Code Geass: Memories of Destruction
by Shimmering-Sky
Summary: AU. All his life, Lelouch has been haunted by nightmares. They seem too real to not mean something, but they had to be nothing more than dreams. At least, that was what he convinced himself... When his nightmares start coming true, how far will he go to stop them? And just who are the two strangers who claim to be the ones sending him these nightmares?
1. Stage 1: The Cursed Eye

**Author's Note Part 1: Hello, people of the internet! Most of you probably have no idea who I am, but that's okay, considering this is my first-ever Code Geass fanfic and all of my other stories have either been related to Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds or Professor Layton and I have no idea if any of you are fans of either series.**

**In any case, this idea initially started as my own time travel AU (because there are just SO FREAKING MANY of them in this fandom) combined with my own "What if THIS event happened differently?" ideas during my first watching of Code Geass.**

**But I wanted my story to stand out. As I said before, there's an abundance of time travel AUs in this story. So it morphed into this: What if prior to any of the events in Code Geass happened, Lelouch had frequent nightmares about the most horrifying/sad/extremely important moments in the show? Initially, he'd be skeptical of them being of the future… but if they were to start happening… would he go out of his way to stop the events in his nightmares? (Fingers crossed that no one else has done something like this already.)**

**Aha, this is going to be SOOOOO much fun to write.**

**I don't own Code Geass or any of its characters. I hope you all enjoy the first installment of **_**Code Geass: Memories of Destruction**_**!**

****The nightmares are depicted in italics, and are more or less copied directly from the dub because I'm one of those people who prefers it to the sub****

* * *

**Stage 1: The Cursed Eye**

_The room was dim, the only source of light being a window. He stood inside the darkness, a gun in his hand. It was pointed at the only other man in the room: Clovis la Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11, Third Prince of Britannia… and his half-brother. The blonde man was sitting on his throne, clearly tense._

"_Are you satisfied?"_

"_Very. Well done," the one hidden in the shadows replied._

_Clovis lifted up an arm, choosing to prop his head up on it. "And what shall we do now? Sing a few lively ballads, or perhaps a nice game of chess?"_

"_That has a familiar ring." He discarded his helmet, but remained in the shadows. The dim room seemed to become a little brighter without the visor over his eyes. "Don't you recall? The two of us used to play chess together as boys. Of course, I would always win."_

"_What?" The prince leaned backward slightly as the stranger removed the safety from his gun._

"_Remember? At the Ares Villa?"_

_Clovis narrowed his eyes, anger now crossing his face. "You… Who are you?"_

"_It's been a long time," he stepped into the light, "Big Brother."_

_Upon seeing the face of his assailant, Clovis stood up. He gasped_—_the man in front of him was supposed to be dead._

"_The eldest son of the late consort Marianne, and seventeenth in line to the Imperial Throne," the man with black hair and violet eyes said. He kneeled down, bowing his head. "Lelouch vi Britannia at your service."_

"_L-Lelouch?! B-But I thought…!" The shock gone, Clovis stared ahead in horror._

"_That I was dead?" Lelouch interrupted. "You were wrong. I have returned, Your Highness. And I've come back to change everything." No longer would he kneel to his half-brother. Lelouch stood up, once again pointing the gun at Clovis._

"_I-I'm overjoyed, Lelouch!" The Third Prince's voice wavered as he sat back on his throne. "They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back! We should depart for the homeland immediately!"_

"_So you can use me as a tool of diplomacy? It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place."_

_Clovis gasped again, his eyes widening. He remembered why._

_Images of his mother's death danced in front of his vision. Lelouch blinked them away. "That's right. It was because my mother was killed," he said. "Mother held the title of Knight of Honor, but was a commoner by birth. No doubt the other imperial consorts held her in contempt. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists, I'm no fool! You people killed my mother!"_

_What little composure the blue-eyed prince had left vanished. "It wasn't me! I swear to you it wasn't!"_

"_Then tell me everything you know. The truth cannot be hidden from me any longer. By whose hand was she slain?" There. His left eye pulsed as he felt energy build up within it._

_A red glow surrounded Clovis' eyes. The blonde relaxed almost immediately after the power took effect. "My brother, Second Prince Schneizel, and Second Princess Cornelia. They can tell you."_

"…_They were at the heart of this?" No response. Lelouch closed his eyes, feeling the power die down. "That's all you know, isn't it?"_

_Released from the power, the panic returned to Clovis. He let go of his throne, trying to look as innocent as possible. "I swear it wasn't me!" His hands shielded his face. "I had… nothing to do with it!"_

_Lelouch lowered his gun_—_if only for a moment. "I believe you." His half-brother lowered his guard. "However…" the violet-eyed man continued, pointing the gun at Clovis' face once again._

"_Please, you can't!" Clovis screamed. "We may have different mothers, but you and I are still blood!"_

"_You can't change the… world with…out ge…tti…ng you…r ha…nds… dir…ty…"_

* * *

Lelouch Lamperouge woke with a shout. That dream—that vivid nightmare—was one of many that haunted him. This one, where he confronted Clovis, had been haunting him more frequently as of late. It seemed so real, like a true memory, despite the fact that the Third Prince was _not_ dead, Lelouch had _not_ confronted him, and he certainly did _not_ have the power to bend others to his will.

It was a common theme amongst the nightmares, though. The burning in his left eye, the red rings around his victim's eyes, those under his spell being powerless to fight back. _Geass_, he reminded himself. _That power was called Geass in my other nightmares._ He pressed a hand to his face. _No, there is no such thing as "Geass". Why do I delude myself into thinking these nightmares are real events?_

Regardless, he had another entry to add to his journal.

* * *

Parasites. That's all the Britannian noblemen were. But they _did_ pay up; he was 200 pounds richer than he was just nine minutes ago. Perhaps gambling wasn't the best way to obtain such funds, but there was no way he would lose a match of chess. Not unless he was playing against Schneizel…

The black-haired student stifled a yawn. He hadn't been able to go back to sleep after the nightmare just last night, and it had only been three in the morning. Combined with other nights where the nightmares would keep him from sleeping… It seemed logical for exhaustion to finally catch up to him.

"Rivalz," Lelouch said, looking up at his friend that was driving the motorcycle, "I need to take a quick nap. Wake me up when we get back to school, alright?"

"Yeah, no problem," his friend said.

"Thank you…" His violet eyes shut tightly, and he let his mind succumb to the exhaustion...

* * *

"_Yes… I hereby accept the terms of your contract!"_

_His left eye burned, though he covered it with his hand. He was inside of an old warehouse, surrounded by Britannian soldiers and the dead bodies of at least a dozen Elevens. And the mysterious green-haired woman… she, too, lay dead at his feet._

"_Say…" he said suddenly, confusing the soldiers that were ready to kill him. "How should a Britannian who detests his own country live his life?"_

_The leader of this group of soldiers adjusted his gun, pointing it directly at the trapped student. "Are you some kind of radical?" The man narrowed his eyes a little. "Huh?"_

_They would not answer him, then. "What's wrong? Why not shoot? Your opponent is just a schoolboy. Or have you finally realized… The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed!" Finally, the time to test this new power. He lowered his hand, the burning in his left eye intensifying._

_The soldier's arm trembled. "What's happening here?!"_

_There would be no going back. No more hiding in the shadows_—_though, it's not like these soldiers would be able to tell their superiors about his true identity. He held up his left arm. "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you! Now, all of you…" He threw his arm to the side, bowing his head slightly. "Die!"_

_His eye had never burned so badly before, but his command still took effect. The commander took a step back before laughing; the laugh of a madman. "Happily, Your Highness!" he exclaimed._

_They all held their own guns to their necks._

"_Fire!"_

_And then all he could see was red._

* * *

His eyes snapped open as he involuntarily sucked in a deep breath. That was a new one… a new demon to haunt him… and the first to occur when he was just trying to take a nap. The first use of that power called Geass… to make Britannian soldiers commit suicide? The strange actions that his dream-self would take…

The honking of a truck was what pulled Lelouch out of his haze. The vehicle was directly behind them—he and Rivalz would be crushed if it was any closer.

"Waaaaah! We're gonna die!" the purple-haired teen screamed, desperately slamming on the accelerator.

It didn't seem to make a difference—the truck still swerved off of the highway, through a barricade, coming to a complete stop only once it slammed into a building on the other side. Rivalz stopped immediately, and they both stared at the smoke and dust created by the crash.

"Eh… was that our fault…?" Rivalz still sounded upset, but also relieved that they hadn't been hit by the truck.

"I don't think so," Lelouch replied, getting out of the passenger car. He walked over to the edge of the bridge and stared at the wreckage. He could have sworn he saw a green glow above the truck if only for a moment.

_Never mind that, the driver and any passengers in that truck might be hurt. And with all those idiots just standing there, some simply taking pictures of the scene… I doubt they've even called for emergency services._ He threw his helmet into the car he'd been sitting in, ignoring Rivalz as he ran to the crashed vehicle.

"Hey! Are you alright?" he called even though debris blocked the driver's door. No one answered him—they could be unconscious, or just not hear him, or even be dead… The other door—could it be unblocked? Lelouch started to run in that direction, but the ladder on the side of the vehicle caught his eye. He could get inside the truck that way…

"Can you hear me? Are you okay?!" Lelouch called into the opening at the top.

His vision blurred for a moment, surrounded by blue. "_It's you… finally, I have found my…!"_

He blinked. The woman's voice stopped, the blue vanishing from his sight. "But where…?" Where could that voice be coming from? "Are you in there?" he called once more into the opening.

Then, the truck suddenly started back up again. He lost his grip on the ladder, tumbling into the small space, tumbling inside the truck.

Lelouch was trapped, and he had no idea where he was being taken to.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: So? What did you guys think?**

**Yeah, I know half of this is just scenes right from the anime, but OBVIOUSLY they were very important and had to be included anyways. Just wait a few chapters and it will turn into massive AU instead of just being a slight one. Also, don't worry, all of your questions will be answered eventually. I can't give away EVERYTHING at the beginning, right?**

**Please, leave a review saying how I did! If I screwed up on some detail, let me know! If you have some sort of constructive criticism for me, share it! And if you don't have anything to say regarding issues, you should still leave a review anyways! Depending on how much feedback this story gets, I might give it the same priority as my main ones in the Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds fandom!**


	2. Stage 2: The Girl in the Capsule

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Darth Lelouch, mcdinh, Prince Sheogorath, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Matsukaze Tenma, and OSR fanatic, the eight people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Darth Lelouch: Like I said, it starts off as only a **_**minor** _**AU. I'm planning for the extreme differences to start kicking in after Clovis' death. Yes, Lelouch will eventually change a LOT of things based on his nightmares. Does that please you?**_

**Author's Note Part 1: I really wasn't expecting eight reviews just for the first chapter. Like, none of my other stories have EVER done that well right off the bat. So yeah, this makes me super happy.**

**Ah, in the course of writing this chapter, I referenced both the dub AND the sub instead of just the dub. I wanted to see what dialogue fit better in context, not including the parts I obviously changed.**

**Also, Lelouch MIGHT be a little OOC. I hope not, but I can't help but feel like he is.**

**I don't own Code Geass or its characters. Enjoy!**

**Stage 2: The Girl in the Capsule**

_Lelouch was trapped, and he had no idea where he was being taken to._

First things first, he had to figure out what else was in here—anything he could use as a ladder. Some boxes that were heavily packed together… something under a tarp… and a strange canister that he _swore_ he had seen before. That could work as a ladder… but not when the truck was moving. Lelouch would wait for it to stop.

Of course, that was when someone over a megaphone orders a vehicle to stop. To surrender right now and the driver and passenger be given the chance to defend themselves in court. It had to be the one Lelouch was trapped in… He'd gotten himself stuck in a vehicle belonging to terrorists. Just perfect.

Lelouch heard gunfire outside of the truck, and had to cling to the strange canister in order to not be flung around in the back of the vehicle as it presumably dodged the bullets. Now, not only would he risk breaking his neck by climbing out, he could be gunned down by the army.

…_!_ The door leading to the driver suddenly opened. Out walked a young woman with auburn hair that spiked outwards. He almost gasped—this woman was one of the key people in several of his nightmares. She took off the white overcoat she was wearing, discarding it near his hiding spot. All the while, she called, "Can you enter the subway via the Azabu route?"

A man—the driver?—shouted back, "Kallen! Let's use it here! Why not?"

_Kallen. That's right. An elite Knightmare pilot…_

She looked over her shoulder, "Because that would mean a bloodbath!"

"Nnn… You're right," the man replied.

Lelouch watched as the wom—as _Kallen_—climbed up a short ladder next to the mysterious object under the tarp. _Ah! That's a Knightmare—a Glasgow. She isn't seriously going to use that to fight the army with, is she?!_

She was serious. The back of the truck opened up, and she piloted the frame out of it. Lelouch was able to see two helicopters fall victim to the Glasgow's slash harken before the space closed up again.

_Ngh… the longer I'm stuck with these terrorists, the more of a chance I have of becoming an unintentional victim in the crossfire. Just how long will this chase last for?_

* * *

Soon after, the little sunlight that streamed in from the top of the truck vanished entirely. At that point, Lelouch pulled out his phone—outside of reception, as he had expected. The darkness and the road surface they were now driving over meant they were in the old subway lines, likely headed for one of the ghettos. There couldn't be cell phone service here, but at least he had a source of light.

Not only that, but he had a bargaining chip should the truck be caught. While he wasn't to keen on using the military, he could give them the radio Kallen left behind in her overcoat. That would be enough to warrant protection, along with the fact that he was just a Britannian student…

"Gah!"

He almost hit his head on the mysterious canister when the truck suddenly came to a halt with a crashing sound. _Another accident…? Or is the truck just stuck…?_

The side door opened, and Lelouch looked up at it. Freedom at last…! He took a step out of his hiding spot and froze. This situation felt all too familiar… A sense of déjà vu settled over him, an awful knot forming in his gut.

If he hadn't turned, Lelouch would have missed the masked man in grey aiming a spinkick for his head. He was able to block it, but the force knocked him to the ground. He lay dazed for a split second before looking up at his assailant. Yes, it was a Britannian soldier.

The soldier grabbed his collar and slammed him into the ground once more. The part of his mask that covered his mouth came off, and he said, "That's enough mindless murder."

"Wait, I'm not one of—"

The soldier wouldn't listen to him. "Planning to use poison gas?" His grip tightened. "Don't play dumb with me!"

_Mindless murder… poison gas… don't play dumb…_ Without thinking, he shouted, "Get off of me, Suzaku!" He landed a kick on the stunned officer; that freed him from the man's grip. _Wait… Wait, did I just say that…?_

"Nn… How do you know my name?" the soldier growled.

He remembered. This exact situation in one of his nightmares, though it was Suzaku who recognized _him_ first, not the other way around. But he couldn't just say _that_… What would be a believable excuse? "I should be able to recognize the voice of my best friend, even after seven years." He hoped that would suffice.

"Wait… _Lelouch_?" The soldier took off the rest of his helmet. That curly brown hair and emerald-colored eyes… This was definitely Suzaku.

"Yes Suzaku, it's me." Lelouch narrowed his eyes at the uniform his friend was wearing. "You became a Britannian soldier?"

"Yeah, and what about you? You're a—"

"I'm _not_ a terrorist. I got stuck in this truck by accident," he quickly replied. "But… go back to you. Why would you become a Britannian soldier?!" _You know how much I despise this country. Not only that, but Britannia stole _your _home and father from you…_

If Suzaku was going to answer his question, he didn't have the time to. The mysterious canister sparked, all of the pipes sticking out of it suddenly extending further. His friend tackled him to the ground and shoved something over his face—a gas mask, most likely.

And the canister opened.

At first, all Lelouch could see was a golden sphere, glowing brightly. Then he realized… there was a woman inside. A woman… in a white straightjacket… A woman with bright green hair. A woman who, like Kallen, frequented his nightmares.

"That's not poison gas… What is it…?" Suzaku asked.

"No," he spat out, muffled by the gas mask. Suzaku's grip loosened, and he was able to remove the mask from his face and continue. "No, this can't be… This can't be happening… It's not possible…"

The woman looked right at him—_amber eyes filled with longing_—before collapsing to the ground.

Lelouch could only stare. This woman could not possibly exist—he couldn't possibly know her already. His dreams could _not_ show him the future. …In fact, what was to say that this, too, wasn't just another dream? That had to be it… He couldn't be in the old subway system right now. This green-haired woman was not real and Suzaku was not a Britannian soldier. That was… that was how it had to be.

* * *

Suzaku spared a glance at his friend. The violet-eyed man was white as a sheet and trembling slightly, his gaze fixated on the woman from the canister. Something was wrong—he knew this. Lelouch was not one to freak out like this. Not unless something had happened to his sister…

And the canister. They had been told it held poison gas; the reason why they had to wear the masks. But this woman was what was inside of it… She was anything _but_ poison gas.

…_I can't just leave her like this,_ he thought. _I might have no idea why she was in that, but she's still a person. I can't just ignore that fact._ He picked her up and decided to prop her up against the wheels of the truck. The straightjacket she was in… _Could this woman be a criminal? …No, I don't think criminals are placed in canisters filled with water._

For the woman was soaked completely. Her clothes were waterlogged, and there were droplets forming in her hair now that she was no longer completely immersed in the liquid. She would have to live with being soaked for a little while. What he _could_ do was undo the buckle that held her arms together, the zipper that kept her legs immobile, and the gag that prevented her from speaking.

He put a hand to her face. At least she didn't seem to be freezing.

But… she _was_ unconscious…

"Lelouch?" the brown-haired man said. His friend was still silent, still horrified, still staring at the girl. What had he said? That this couldn't be happening? Just what did he mean by that…?

Suddenly, they had a spotlight on them. He shielded his eyes from the abrupt burst, lowering his arm once he could see properly again. Lelouch still didn't say anything… but the shock and horror was at least gone from his face. Instead, it became twisted with anger…

"…Ah!"

The rest of Suzaku's squad, along with their commander, had found them. Of course. He had signaled them upon spotting the canister—it wasn't like they would never be found.

"Feh… Damn monkey!" his commander boomed, sneering at Suzaku. "Being an honorary Britannian will not excuse you! You do not have the authority to do what you've done."

Suzaku had no choice. He had to go over there and talk to them directly, rather than stay back. "But sir! I was told this was poison gas…"

"How _dare_ you question orders?"

_This isn't good… and with Lelouch and that girl here…_

"However," his commander suddenly said, the anger gone from his voice, "in light of your outstanding military achievements, I'm going to be lenient." He held out a gun, the standard for Britannians in the military.

Suzaku's eyes widened. Honorary Britannians weren't allowed to carry guns until they were higher in the military. _He couldn't want me to…!_

"Private Kururugi, take this and execute the terrorist," his commander finished.

_He does._ "But sir, he's not a terrorist!" He looked back at Lelouch, who seemed to be muttering something. "He's… He's just a civilian who got caught up in all this!"

"Insubordinate little…! This is an _order_! Didn't you swear your life and loyalty to Britannia?"

"Yes but… But I can't. I _won't_ shoot a civilian," he said, closing his eyes and turning around. "I can't follow your orders… Sir."

"Hmph. Then die!"

"STOP IT!" Lelouch screams. "Suzaku, you don't have to—"

His outburst came too late. The Britannian commander already pulled the trigger, with the gun aimed at Suzaku's side.

He didn't even feel the pain as he collapsed to the ground.

The last thing he saw was Lelouch screaming for him…

* * *

_It's happening at last. This world is on its way to the rebellion. I wonder… just how much will change this time around? How long will it take for _this _Lelouch to accept the "nightmares" as visions?_

The man uncrossed his legs but kept his head propped up on his left hand.

_Well then… how much shall you entertain me?_

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: I'm enjoying myself far too much. I mean, that last scene… and the one with Suzaku's thoughts instead of Lelouch's…**

**It's mostly the last scene. Obviously this mysterious person is going to be important later on in the story, but will be be a hero or a villain or both? This guy is going to be so fun to write…**

**Well, I hope you all leave a review!**


	3. Stage 3: Birth of a Demon

_*****Thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, Darth Lelouch, Ulrich362, me, mcdinh, Demons Anarchy of Pride, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Prince Sheogorath, tf330129, Guest, Matsukaze Tenma, xStrykerJ, OBSERVER01, and JumpingToaster, the fourteen people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Darth Lelouch: I won't say if your guess is right or if it's wrong, but I will say that the only reason the mysterious person specified "for this Lelouch" is because this is hardly the first world/timeline/whatever he's watched or messed with, so he was simply separating the Lelouch of this story from the countless others he's seen… if that makes sense at all. Sorry if it doesn't. As for pairings, well, I'll keep them a secret for now because IF I include romance I have to really, really plan ahead as I suck at writing romance…**_

_**Guest Review Reply - me: I haven't been able to watch FMA yet, so it can't be someone from it. As for your other guess… Like I told Darth Lelouch, I won't say if it is right or wrong.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Guest: Well, I'm glad you think this is a neat idea! Thanks!**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Am… Am I dreaming right now? Did one of my stories ACTUALLY get FOURTEEN reviews for a single chapter over the course of just TWO days? I… I'm stunned. I've never gotten that many before. Extra-big thanks to the people who reviewed!**

…**Okay, now that I'm done utterly flipping out over the amazing number of reviews last chapter received…**

**So this chapter is where the AU starts coming into play in full-force. Where it STARTS to, at least. You'll see why when you read it.**

**I don't own Code Geass or its characters. Enjoy!**

**Stage 3: Birth of a Demon**

"_STOP IT! Suzaku, you don't have to—"_

The gunshot silenced him. Watching his estranged friend fall to the ground and remain there unmoving… shook him to his core. This was… This was _just_ like one of the nightmares from last month. The green-haired girl—_her name was C.C._—rescued from the capsule… the Britannian soldiers and their commander showing up… and Suzaku… _Suzaku_…!

_He might not be dead. Remember, Suzaku was still important in many of the other dreams—he's the pilot of the white Knightmare. What was it called? Something with an "L"…?_

"Well Britannian schoolboy, not a good day to cut class," the commander said. "Collect the girl. After you've secured her, kill the student."

"Yes, my lord!" the others replied, saluting.

_Dammit… this _can't _be the end! Not yet… Not when I haven't had the chance to do a single thing with my life! There has to be some way out of this! If… If only I had that power…_

The girl—_C.C. Her name _was _C.C._—suddenly grabbed his arm. She must have woken up…

Lelouch gasped as his vision turned blue. _Just like before I fell into the truck…_ Except this time, he felt like he was falling. Endlessly plummeting towards something. _What is this…?_

"_You don't want it to end here, do you?"_ a woman's voice asked. It… It _had_ to belong to C.C. His dreams were coming true… "_You appear to have a reason for living."_

_Yes… I have two… for Nunnally… and to… obliterate Britannia…_

"_If I grant you power, could you go on? I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true."_

He didn't remember anything about a wish. Nothing; none of his nightmares said anything about what this girl's wish was. He shook his head—or at least, he tried to. _For the last time, those dreams are nothing more than dreams._

"_Accept this contract and you accept its conditions,"_ she continued. "_While living in the world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time, a different life. The Power of the King will condemn you to a life of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"_

_This is the only hope I have to live. Yes, I _must _do this. _"Yes… I hereby accept the terms of your contract!" It wasn't until after he spoke them that he realized why the words felt familiar. They were the exact ones he had spoken at the beginning of his nightmare barely an hour ago…

_Then… could those dreams really be…?_

The blue shifted to white, then red. He blinked—he was back in the old subway station. This was hardly the warehouse with dead Elevens littering the ground, but it still filled him with anger. Anger for not being able to stop Suzaku from being hurt—possibly killed. Anger at the commander of the royal guard for trying to order Suzaku to kill him. Anger at the people who tried to keep C.C. inside of that container and called it "poison gas".

His left eye burned, just like it did in those dreams. It was happening, and he didn't care. These people had to pay. For everything they've done… He stood up and glared at the commander. "You scum… blindly serving a country that's rotted to the core."

"Are you some kind of radical?!" the man demanded, aiming his gun directly at Lelouch's forehead.

_Heh. Predictable._ "And what if I am? Would you shoot me? After all… I'm _just_ a schoolboy." The Britannian commander's arm trembled as he continued, "Or have you finally realized… The only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed!"

"Kill him! K-Kill him, right now!" the commander shouted to his lackeys.

Lelouch laughed, throwing his arm out to the side. "I don't think so. Lelouch vi Britannia commands all of you to die!"

More burning. Just like in his nightmare.

The soldiers laughed, the commander screamed, "Happily, Your Highness!" Just like in his nightmare.

And all at once, they shot themselves in the neck. Just like in his nightmare.

While the location was different, he could deny it no longer. His dreams at least held a grain of truth. "Well then," he said with a smirk. With this newfound power and this knowledge of the possible future…

He had to focus on the present for now. The driver of the truck… and Suzaku, if he was still alive—_he would be; he _had _to be_—they would both need medical attention.

He avoided the massive blood pools as he walked to his friend's side. Lelouch almost sighed in relief as he saw that the brunette was still breathing, and didn't seem to be bleeding. His protective suit was torn where the bullet had hit it, meaning something he had inside of the suit must have ultimately saved his life.

"Suzaku… Suzaku, can you hear me?" Lelouch gently shook Suzaku's shoulders.

The young man grimaced and muttered something, but didn't open his eyes or directly answer Lelouch's question.

_At the very least, he's alive and only in pain._ "C.C."

"I don't recall ever telling you my name," the woman from the capsule replied, staring at him.

"I have my ways," he replied mysteriously. "In any case, can you keep an eye on my friend while I go check on the driver?"

He took her silence as a yes, and ran to the door of the truck. He paused for a moment. _Should I show my face to a terrorist? Especially if I decide to become Zero, their masked hero?_ He could always just erase the terrorist's memory of seeing him using his Geass…

Lelouch climbed into the truck. Whoever the man was who had been driving the truck… His left shoulder was bleeding profusely, soaked into the white coat that looked a lot like the one Kallen had discarded earlier. The man's breaths were pained… and sounded like those of a dying man.

"S-Stay away from me… damn… Britannian…"

"You've got it all wrong. I'm here to help you," Lelouch replied. He felt power swell behind his left eye again. "Now, I need you to do something for me…"

* * *

After making sure someone could find the still-unresponsive Suzaku, he started on the next part of his plan. This would be the perfect victory… but first, he had to find a Knightmare, and he also had to deal with C.C.

The woman was simply staring at the dead soldiers, expressionless.

"C.C." She looked up at him. "I want you to leave this place. Go to the Ashford Academy and wait there until I return. I'll… answer any questions you might have then."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "And…?"

_She wants more than just answers? Hm… there has to be… something…_ "Pizza!" he blurted out as he recalled one nightmare—one where he gave her a pizza in an attempt to… something. He couldn't remember that much. Still… "I'll buy you five pizzas if you listen to my instructions."

C.C. looked interested now, as she licked her lips. "Fine. I accept the terms of your offer."

_Good. That leaves finding a Knightmare to pilot._ He pocketed the communicator Kallen had left behind and began running through the subway tunnel—the direction he had come from. Meanwhile, he heard the sound of gunshots and explosions and screaming.

_It seems that my brother still finds it necessary to purge the Shinjuku Ghetto… He'll be in for a surprise._

By the time he reached the end of the tunnel, Lelouch was thoroughly exhausted and out of breath. He should have chosen to walk… maybe gone the other way instead… He just wasn't cut out for this sort of exercise.

He couldn't stay there, though. He had a plan to complete.

"Nn…" His muscles protested the movement as he finished climbing out of the tunnel.

The old warehouse. The one from his nightmare. Of course, the floor was not littered with dead bodies. Rather, there was a group of unarmed Elevens all staring at him. Lelouch could even see two children in the midst, hiding behind what he assumed were their parents.

Before they could react, he activated his Geass. "I want all of you to leave this place using the subway tunnel immediately." He smirked as he saw the red rings form around their irises. It worked. They all ignored him and fled into the old subway system.

_If I've timed this correctly, then… what was her name? Viletta? Yes, that was it. She should be arriving in her Knightmare any second now…_

The entrance to the warehouse exploded, right on cue. In came a Sutherland, and it stopped as soon as it noticed him. "_What's a Britannian student doing in a place like this?"_ the machine's pilot demanded. It was indeed Viletta.

_My power only works with direct eye contact, so…_ "I-I'm not exactly sure how I got here," he said, adding the stutter to make him sound even more innocent. He even held up his hands, palms facing her. "But my name is Alan Spacer. My father is a duke."

"_Nobility?"_

"My I.D. card's in my breast pocket. After you've confirmed who I am, could you get me out of this place?"

A pause, and the cockpit of the Knightmare opened. A dark-skinned woman with silver-blue hair came out of it, the key to the machine in her hands. He couldn't help but smirk—she had no idea how big of a mistake she made. "Keep your hands in the air. _I'll_ take out your I.D."

"Now then…" Lelouch felt his eye burn for the fourth time that day. "You will obey me, Viletta Nu."

In the moment before the command took effect, the woman tried to step backwards. But there was no way she could escape. Viletta bowed her head to Lelouch. "What will you have me do, Master?"

"First, give me the key to your Knightmare… and also the gun you carry."

"Understood." She held out her gun to him, and then passed over the key. "The code number is XG2-1G2D4. Now what?"

"For now, nothing. But the next time you see me or someone calling himself 'Zero' assume this pose," he tugged at his collar, "you are to follow whatever instructions we give while in it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good."

By the time Viletta regained control of her mind, Lelouch was long gone in his newly acquired Sutherland.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: I hope you don't mind the changed dialogue… and the different command Lelouch gave Viletta. (I couldn't help myself… He's obviously going to abuse the fact that she is his slave in later chapters.)**

**As for what happened to the terrorist/truck driver, you'll find out next chapter when Lelouch's plan comes full circle. Obviously I made him **_**not**_ **blow up the truck for a reason.**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please, leave a review!**


	4. Stage 4: Rook Takes Knight

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, mcdinh, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Prince Sheogorath, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, northernlion196, Darth Lelouch, BlackTyrantValvatorez, Matsukaze Tenma, OBSERVER01, and MissInara, the eleven who reviewed the previous chapter, and also A friend and HailLelouch, the two who reviewed the first chapter*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Darth Lelouch: Lelouch hasn't shown his face to any of them YET (without their memories of his face being erased, like Nagata due to Lelouch's Geass), but he just might have plans to do that at some point in the future… And I'm glad you find my story as not just a remake of Code Geass. Thanks!**_

_**Guest Review Reply - A friend: If you keep reading, you're sure to find out EXACTLY how it plays out. Though, I am glad you think this is a good idea!**_

_**Guest Review Reply - HailLelouch: You make a very good point with Lelouch only seeing PARTS of the "future". In addition to that, there are whole events that he has no idea about (several very important ones, in fact). Thanks for giving my story a chance!**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Ah, sorry for the slight delay. I'm not on break anymore, and my English classes have both piled insane amounts of homework on me… in addition to the fact that I managed minor writer's block during this chapter because Suzaku… man, I had a hard time with his part for some reason.**

**And yes, MINOR writer's block (for me) equals a week. Be glad I didn't go on a four month hiatus because that HAS happened before (multiple times).**

**In any case, the last scene in this chapter MORE than makes up for the difficulty I had with Suzaku's part. You'll see why when you get there.**

**I don't own Code Geass or its characters. Enjoy the (longer than usual) chapter!**

**Stage 4: Rook Takes Knight**

He twirled the communicator in his hand, slightly bored but also slightly anxious. What if the driver's fellow terrorists hadn't found him in time? What if he hadn't been able to pass on the message Lelouch had given him? What if the terrorists decided they didn't want to follow a person they'd never met? Would he have to settle with following the same plan as that of the one in his dreams?

No. He _refused_ to follow the exact same path unless there were no other options available. Because the driver had not made the truck self-destruct, there was the possibility for change. After all, adding one piece to a chessboard can change _everything_…

One thing had to remain the same, though: the capture of the train carrying Sutherlands. There was no way they could fight back without the Knightmare frames, and it would also further establish the terrorists' trust in him.

Suddenly, the communicator crackled to life. "_Uh… Hello? Is… Zero there?"_

_Finally._ "Yes, I am here," Lelouch replied. "Who am I speaking to at the moment?"

"_Ohgi. Kaname Ohgi,"_ the man answered.

_Ohgi, huh? The key pieces seem to be assembling themselves…_ "Well then, Ohgi, take your group to the train tracks by the west entrance. I will give a gift to you there." And for the means of achieving the "gift"… "Woman in the Glasgow! Use the tracks and head in that direction as well. Ignore any Britannians who follow you."

Instead of immediately following his orders, the female pilot shouted, "_Who are you?! How do you even know this code?!"_

_Tsk. It seems Ohgi and his group didn't let Kallen know about my plan…_

"_Hey, Kallen, we can trust him!"_ Ohgi said through the communicator. "_He saved Nagata!"_

"_Wait, he's alright?"_

"Shouldn't you be focused on getting to those tracks?" Lelouch interrupted. He narrowed his eyes. This was not turning out nearly as smooth as it had in his dreams… "Unless, of course, you want to be captured and killed by the two Sutherlands currently chasing you."

"_Ah… right."_

It took less than a minute for the Glasgow—missing an arm, he noted—to arrive within his line of sight. And, as he expected, there were two Sutherlands chasing it. The train was also coming in from the opposite direction.

_Perfect. The stage is set._

"_Okay, what now?"_ Kallen asked. She almost sounded like she was panicking… It was likely due to the fact that there was a train coming right at her and, unlike Lelouch, had no idea how this was going to play out.

"Jump onto the train," Lelouch ordered. He smirked when she listened, and when one of the Sutherlands proceeded to stop it. The other one jumped up, as though to follow Kallen and her Glasgow over the vehicle.

_This is too easy,_ he thought with a yawn. He fired his slash harkens, both of them striking the airborne Sutherland. One knocked its head off, and the other sent the machine flying. Then he switched over to the assault rifle and began shooting at the remaining enemy Knightmare.

It was over in a moment. The bullets destroyed one of the legs on Jeremiah's Sutherland, and Kallen proceeded to ram it before he could fire at Lelouch. The lord had no choice but to retreat.

_My apologies Jeremiah, but I don't have use for you yet… and you stand in the way of my plan._

He blinked, and moved farther back in the building he was holed up inside. He had a plan to complete—to defeat Clovis, and to capture the Lancelot. And these terrorists would be the means to that end…

* * *

Much to his chagrin, their counterattack happened in nearly the same way that he remembered. The biggest—no, the _only_ difference—was that he had the two he had designated as rooks along with half of his pawns remain underground after collapsing the surface underneath the hoard of Clovis' force. Soon enough… Soon enough, the Lancelot would appear. And when that happened… they would be ready.

He'd told them about the Lancelot—about how the Sutherlands stood no chance against it unless they caught it off-guard. The only way to do that was to hide underground and pull off a similar assault that took down dozens of the Britannian forces. Of course, Lelouch didn't intend to destroy the Lancelot—no, it would be far more useful if they could capture the Knightmare.

He kept a close eye on the map. No new units appeared on it…

…_There!_ The dot that signified his P-5 suddenly switched to saying "LOST" over it. _So you make your move, Lancelot. Is your pilot still my friend Suzaku…?_

"B Squad! Be prepared for the unit I was telling you about!" Lelouch said into his communicator. "Do not engage it if you don't have to."

"_Understood!"_ one of the bishops responded.

"_Ah! It's coming right for us!"_ the other shouted.

"Remain calm! Lead the white Knightmare to point F-27!"

_This is the critical point… Can my remaining force successfully lead him to the ambush?_

* * *

Gather data for Lloyd and Cécile about how the Lancelot functions. Stop the terrorists. Capture their leader. _Find out what happened to Lelouch and that girl._ Technically, that was the order in which he had to complete them. Of course, Suzaku wanted it in a different order.

_Lelouch had to be okay. But what if he wasn't? What if he was injured or dying or dead and I could have helped but didn't—_

Suzaku pushed the thought to the back of his mind, knowing he couldn't get rid of it completely. He _would_ find Lelouch and that green-haired woman from the capsule, and they _would_ be alright. There was no question about that.

No, what he had to focus on were his other three goals. At least for now.

A lone Sutherland was nearby—one that did not show up on the radar. A terrorist. It wasn't doing anything at the moment, but Suzaku couldn't let them get away. A quick jab to the other robot's face was all that was necessary to put it out of commission.

_This is almost unfair_, he thought. _Still, with this I can—_

The reprieve he had received for the pain in his side was over. "Ngh…" He flinched, but that made the pain even worse. _I… I can't let this stop me! The terrorists—and Lelouch!_

He saw two more enemy Knightmares in the distance—and they saw him as well. Instead of fighting him, though, the two machines _fled_. Suzaku narrowed his eyes at the two while he tried to catch up with them. _Why wouldn't they stay and fight? They would want to avenge their fallen friend, wouldn't they?_

_Unless… they _could _be acting under orders. Maybe their leader wants to see the power of the Lancelot before attacking again? Or maybe they're leading me to an ambush? They took out so many Britannians with ambushes… Then again, they were only piloting Sutherlands—just like these terrorists. They might get the element of surprise at some point, but I still have the better tech. The Lancelot won't go down as easy as they think it will!_

He fired one of the slash harkens, catching the slightly slower one of his foes and knocking its arm off. It was at this point that the pilots decided to fight back, both of them letting loose a hail of bullets while still trying to get away. Suzaku merely grunted (both in frustration and in pain), stopped moving, and activated the Blaze Luminous. The bullets bounced off harmlessly, but he couldn't stay there.

Deactivating the shield as soon as they stopped firing, Suzaku caught up to the two terrorists in an insanely short amount of time. The pilot of the damaged Sutherland had to eject once he stabbed through their machine with the blade part of a slash harken. The second one fell moments later; its pilot couldn't block the spinkick he pulled off in the Lancelot.

_This really is too easy… but since I've shown my power against three of their members, will these terrorists attack me now? I can't let my guard down._

The answer to his question was still a resounding no. A Knightmare dashed across the plaza in front of him, ignoring him entirely. The fact that it did not show up on radar meant they had to be terrorists, just like the other three. A one-armed Glasgow… there was no way it could outspeed the Lancelot. _So… why not attack?_

He had no choice but to follow the two. Every instinct in his body _screamed_ that it was a trap, but he couldn't just let them get away…!

Then, suddenly, the fourth-generation Knightmare stopped and faced him. Two Sutherlands appeared in front of it, and he saw at least three more appear around him. _Ngh… it _was _an ambush,_ he thought in disdain. _But! If they think they can win just because they have more numbers, they have another thing coming!_

He jumped as soon as the Sutherlands opened fire, propelling himself even higher with the slash harkens in the Lancelot's hips. He shot one from the wrist, decapitating one of the Sutherlands and swinging it to damage another. And to further the damage, he landed on a third, crushing its frame.

And then he abruptly lost the upper hand… when the ground started crumbling beneath him. Suzaku's eyes widened; this was exactly what took out nearly half of Prince Clovis' forces earlier. They think he would fall for it again?

But… the slash harkens he fired immediately after didn't connect with anything solid. He had no leverage, nothing to propel himself with, nothing to stop from falling. The Lancelot hit the ground beneath the surface hard—he definitely heard the scraping of metal—but the pain that coursed through his body because of his bullet wound…

Suzaku blacked out. For how long, he had no idea. When he could see again, he was still inside of the Lancelot… not that it did him any good. He was surrounded by _six_ Sutherlands, all of them using their slash harkens as a way to keep the top half of the Lancelot from being able to do something. The bottom half of his Knightmare was useless as well, jammed waist-deep inside of _another_ hole in the ground that was too skinny to maneuver out of.

_How… How could I have fallen for this trap…?_

"Pilot of the white Knightmare, the Lancelot…" a male voice said.

Suzaku blinked, before realizing that an audio-only communication line had been opened up between the Lancelot and some other device. He didn't recognize the voice on the other end. Should he respond?

"Suzaku Kururugi…"

He gaped at the screen. "H-How do you know who I am…?"

"I have my ways," the voice replied.

_Grr…_ "What do you want, then?"

"Isn't it obvious? Give up the Lancelot. The terrorists have been instructed to not harm you at all, so it's not like they'll kill you the moment you step out of the cockpit."

"And what if I choose to stay in here?" He _couldn't_ leave the Lancelot behind. Lloyd had trusted him with it—the _first_ seventh-generation Knightmare ever created. If it was captured by terrorists under his watch, the military would _never_ forgive him…

"Well, I have two cards to play. The first is that my master Zero is currently on his way to assassinate Prince Clovis—and I _guarantee_ that no matter what security the G-1 has, Zero _will_ make his way to the prince," the voice replied smugly.

_Attacking Prince Clovis directly?! No, there is no way this "Zero" could possibly… This man has to be bluffing._

"Not amused?" the mysterious voice said after a moment of silence. "Then perhaps there's the fact that I have your friend… what was his name again? Lelouch… _vi Britannia_…?"

At this, the brown-haired teen gasped, an extreme sense of dread filling his muscles. Someone… Someone had found Lelouch before he did… A _terrorist_ had his friend… and knew he was a prince… "You… bastard…"

"Now, now, don't be so upset, Kururugi. All you have to do is leave the Lancelot behind… and I release Lelouch unharmed, as soon as I think you're a decent amount away from us."

Suzaku was trembling now. _What should I do? My duty as a Britannian soldier, or my duty as a friend? I can't… I can't let Lelouch be hurt because of me… I have to…_

* * *

He was laughing uncontrollably, clapping his hands to an invisible audience. "Yes! Yes, this is perfect! Capturing the Lancelot like that… genius! And telling the truck driver to pretend that he has you hostage? Even better! My goodness, this Lelouch _far_ outpaces the last three we've had to watch. Isn't that right, S.S.?"

The man spared a glance at his companion, a girl who was physically older than he, yet actually younger as they received their immortality at separate times. She ran a hand through her pale brown hair, "You're right… but can you tone it down a little on the enthusiasm, Z.Z.? You're scaring me…"

The man laughed again. "If only I could, S.S. If only I could." He cocked his head to the side, playing with the blonde wig he currently had on. "You know… I think I shall go to that world myself. No more watching from afar, only sending Lelouch those 'visions'. He's proved to be _quite_ the source of entertainment, after all…"

His companion gasped. "B-But… Big Brother, you know that means—"

"That I'm stuck there until this Lelouch dies or someone takes my Code, yes, of _course_ I know that already, S.S." The currently-blonde man waved his hand dismissively at her. "You seem to forget that I've done this six times before."

She remained silent for several minutes, staring at her lap. "R-Right, of course… Um…" She looked up, "Z.Z., let me go with you! I don't want to stay here by myself again… I-I can help you! Please, just let me go too!"

"You know that means getting caught up in strife and bloodshed? Would you truly wish to stain your hands with blood, Sister?"

More silence, but she nodded. "I'm prepared for that. I'm stronger than you remember, Z.Z.!"

The man smirked in response. "Perhaps you are, S.S… Now then, to procure a proper disguise for you… _Then_ we can travel to that world together."

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: So Lelouch pulled of an insane plan that **_**worked**_ **and captured the Lancelot. (If you think this is OP, he will not be able to use it until Rakshata shows up at the very least.)**

**And then there is Z.Z., the mysterious man from the end of chapter two, who apparently has a younger sister named S.S… and they're both supposedly from another world, too. Hehehe…**

…**You know, since I'm probably never going to get around to an actual flashback, Lelouch told Nagata to first let the rest of his group know that he was saved by Zero, putting some level of trust in him before even managing to get them the Sutherlands. Then, he told Nagata to call Suzaku (in the Lancelot) if he was refusing to come out of said Knightmare and taunt him with whatever the heck he could to get Suzaku **_**out**_ **of it. So Nagata the mysterious radio voice **_**is not actually evil and does not have Lelouch hostage**_**. If this is still not clear, I'll be happy to answer any more questions surrounding this specifically if you leave one in a review.**

**You should also leave a review even if you don't have any questions. Shows appreciation to the author, you know.**


	5. Stage 5: Puppet Strings

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, A friend (twice), xStrykerJ, mcdinh, JackFrost14, Prince Sheogorath, Matsukaze Tenma, BlackTyrantValvatorez, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Lord Alania, Demons Anarchy of Pride, MM Browsing, OBSERVER01, Aynessa, and Jarjaxle, the fifteen people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - A friend: You really didn't need to review twice; I got the gist of the autocorrect-ruined review just fine. You do, however, make two very good points. I've solidified an explanation to the multiple worlds thing thanks to you getting concerned about it, and everyone I've bounced it off of certainly thinks that it fits. As for fleshing out fight scenes, I'll certainly try harder next time. I just didn't want to rehash the entirety of the counterattack in the Shinjuku Ghetto, so I only focused on what changed. Sorry if you didn't like that…**_

**Author's Note Part 1: I'm really not certain that I like this chapter, but this is what happens when I inadvertently sleep deprive myself for the third day in a row (yes, you can do that accidentally). It's probably not my best work.**

**Mostly because Clovis. I really didn't want to write Clovis, but I had to.**

**Oh, and Lelouch might seem a little OOC (for the time that this is supposed to be occurring), but I can assure you that actually has a reason. His nightmares coming true sort-of sped up his descent into sadistic territory.**

**Well, I don't own Code Geass or its characters. Enjoy!**

**Stage 5: Puppet Strings**

"_Master Zero, Suzaku Kururugi has abandoned the Lancelot. As you specified, he has not been harmed,"_ Nagata's voice echoed through the radio.

"I understand," Lelouch replied, smirking. _Checkmate._ His plan worked—the Britannians would no longer have the upper hand on the battlefield, at least not until they made a new model. "Did you give him my phone number, as I requested?"

"_I did. He should be calling you soon."_

"Thank you, Nagata. You can go back to your own life now."

He imagined that the Japanese man was confused, wherever he was. Lelouch couldn't dwell on that, though. He pulled out his phone and turned it on. _Seventeen missed calls_, the screen read. Five from Rivalz—_he must not have seen me fall into the truck_—eleven from Shirley—_she's probably worried about where I ended up, especially since I had been out gambling_—and one from Nunnally. _I wonder why she would call…_

The device started ringing; it did not know the person on the other end. _Click._ "H-Hello?" Lelouch asked, slipping into a state of false panic. It would definitely sell his story more, even better if Suzaku _is_ on the other end. "Who—"

"_Lelouch! You're alright!" _The caller, indeed Suzaku, heaved a heavy sigh of relief. "_The terrorists didn't harm you, did they?"_

"No… I'm fine," he answered. "But what about you? I thought… I thought that you'd…"

"_No major injuries on my side, either. Well, my side is bruised, but apparently my father's pocketwatch stopped the bullet where my vest failed."_

The pocketwatch. That was what saved his life? _That was definitely a stroke of luck for Suzaku,_ Lelouch thought. He closed his eyes for a moment, pleased that he had the answer to that question. "I'm glad you aren't dead, Suzaku. …Ah, but I need to go now. My friends back at Ashford are probably worried about what I've gotten myself into."

There was a pause on the other end. "_Is that where you've been hiding?"_

"Yes, along with Nunnally. Perhaps you could visit us sometime… unfortunately, only during a festival. The other students don't know that you're an honorary Britannian, not Japanese, and they'd probably get the wrong idea." He had to consciously constrain his distaste while saying that. He _hated_ that his fellow classmates would discriminate against Suzaku and any other Japanese who tried to enter the school when Milly wasn't running one of her festivals.

"_That would be nice,"_ Suzaku said. "_Um… talk to you later, then?"_

"Sounds like a plan." He clicked the phone off, back to plotting Clovis' end. Now that he knew that he was alright, Suzaku would naturally be heading to the G-1… _I have to deal with my brother before he gets here._

The black-haired teen could hear the shouts coming from inside the control center. Clovis must be very, very angry. Of course, he just had his forces decimated… and he had no idea where C.C. was. He'd have to ask why C.C. was so important; enough to launch a full-scale massacre in the Shinjuku Ghetto. It was unforgivable regardless of the reason behind it, but he certainly wanted to know what twisted logic his brother was using.

He entered the room, so silently that none of its four other occupants noticed until it was too late. He'd already cut the lights—_that_ was what got him attention. The four men spun around instantly, and Clovis was the first to speak.

"How _dare_ you enter this room without permission?" the Third Prince demanded, ready to march down and confront the intruder.

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle. "How dare _I_? Trespassing is hardly the biggest sin, Prince Clovis." He removed the gas mask covering his face; these three subordinates of his brother would be gone in a moment. "The real question is, how dare all of _you_, the people involved with running experiments on the immortal witch known as C.C.?"

It was a shame the room was too dark to see their individual expressions, though he did notice all of their eyes widening simultaneously.

"Y-You… how do you…?"

He narrowed his eyes as he stepped to the side, the intent being to block Clovis' view of his eyes. The three scientists/soldiers—_they're important they mustn't die_—remain in full view. Red tinged his vision for a moment as he felt his left eye burn. "Leave this room immediately and lock yourselves in the bathroom. Tell no one what you saw here, and ignore any sounds you hear from this room," Lelouch ordered.

A dark-skinned bald man wearing a monocle—_Bartley something or other_—bowed, just like the two others. "Yes, of course," they chorused before walking around Lelouch.

"Wha—why are you listening to this fool's orders?"

The violet-eyed teen smirked. "They listened to me because my authority is higher than even your father, the Emperor. No one can deny the commands that Zero issues them." _Yes, my Geass is stronger than him…_

Clovis cocked his head to the side, examining the man in front of him carefully. "Are you supposed to be Zero?" He laughed, and added, "Zero, as in nothing? Surely you jest, as if I would be scared by _nothing_…" Then he let out a harmless squeak as his eyes widened.

Lelouch clicked off the safety on his gun, aiming it at his elder brother's left knee. For the massacre at the ghetto, he would make Clovis squirm for some time before using his Geass. "Clovis la Britannia… You think of yourself as the puppetmaster, but in truth, you yourself are just another puppet; the puppet prince of a rotten empire."

_BANG._

_BANG._

The blonde man screamed as he collapsed onto his rear, his legs suddenly limp, bleeding, and an extreme source of pain for him. To his credit, he did not cry… just screamed. A lot.

_Serves you right, Brother,_ Lelouch thought curtly. _By the off chance I don't kill you, you'll be crippled, just like Nunnally._ He almost hissed at the thought—he had no right to be compared to his precious sister. Narrowing his eyes, he walked over to the inert prince, who was still screaming. He pointed the gun at the man's other knee. "Tell me, puppet, why did you order the attack on the Shinjuku Ghetto?"

Clovis looked up, one eye squeezed shut and his shoulders trembling. He opened his mouth for a moment, about to speak. He closed it and looked back down. "I-I can't. If I tell you the truth, I'll be disinherited!"

The man calling himself Zero snorted. "You value your position more than your own life? Such is the folly of the royal family; no, of all the citizens of Britannia." He shook his head as he shrugged his shoulders. "I never should have expected you to be different. Now then…" His eye burned. "Answer my questions truthfully!"

As soon as it took effect, Clovis stopped shaking. His face, instead of being controlled by fear and by pain, portrayed no emotion. "Yes?"

"Begin with answering the one I already asked you," Lelouch said, lowering his gun. There was no need to threaten him in this state. "Why did you order the attack on the Shinjuku Ghetto?"

"The terrorists had taken the capsule C.C. was locked inside. If they found out what she could do, not only would I be disinherited, but they could have a very potent weapon against Britannia. I couldn't risk _anyone_ finding out about it."

_So, not _entirely _about your own position… Still, that reasoning is hardly enough to justify this act._ "What exactly is it that C.C. can do?"

"She's immortal," Clovis answered. "Any wounds inflicted on her heal at a rapid rate, and she only temporarily succumbs to those that would prove fatal."

_Yes, I pieced that together already from my nightmares. Though, it seems you know nothing about Geass._ "Is that why you were running experiments on her?"

"That is correct. I wanted to find out what made her immortal…"

_And you failed, miserably._ "Is that all you have to justify the slaughter of the Japanese people? A failed experiment that never should have existed in the first place being stolen?"

"They were only Elevens," Clovis said nonchalantly. "They're nothing more than the ground we walk upon."

Lelouch clenched his fist and gritted his teeth together. He could kill his brother for that comment alone… "Why do you think that?"

"They're the ones who stole my dear brother Lelouch and precious sister Nunnally from me."

…_What's this now? He actually _cares _about what happened to Nunnally and I? Perhaps not all of his emotion in that nightmare had been a lie… Tsk. I cannot afford to second guess myself right now._ "I see… and how exactly do you think they were 'stolen' from you?"

"They were executed by the late Prime Minister shortly before the invasion."

_Lies. We weren't officially declared dead until after Japan surrendered. And yet… Clovis can't be lying to me—he's under my Geass right now. Does he believe that to be the truth? And in that case, why?_ His lips pressed into an impassive straight line as he stared ahead. "Who told you that w—that Lelouch and Nunnally were killed before the invasion?"

The Third Prince frowned slightly. "I don't remember."

He almost growled in frustration. He _should_ remember who told him his half-siblings were dead. An event such as that would have to stick out in his mind, especially if they were "dear" and "precious" to him, wouldn't it? "That seems almost… convenient," he mused under his breath.

"Hm? Is that it?"

"No, I have two more questions left." _Just to confirm my suspicions._ "Do you know who killed Marianne vi Britannia?"

"I do not."

"Do you know anyone who does?"

"…My brother, Second Prince Schneizel and my sister, Second Princess Cornelia. They might know the truth about her death."

As he suspected, it was the same. Clovis knew nothing about the death of Marianne the Flash, and directed him to Schneizel and Cornelia. Of course, that meant Cornelia knew nothing as well—he had interrogated her in one of his nightmares that led to the same answer, directing him towards Schneizel instead. If he wanted to find out who really killed his mother, Lelouch certainly had to find the Second Prince.

"Thank you for answering my questions," Lelouch said. The burning in his eye finally finished, and with it, so did the Third Prince's state of perpetual peace.

It was instantly back to the screaming and trembling—hard shaking, this time, as though the pain from his bullet wound had increased tenfold after the end of his relaxed state. The prince stared up at his assailant, blue eyes filled with fear. "Please… please, stop! You've—gah—caused me enough… pain! Have mercy…"

"Mercy? Why should I show mercy to the man who slaughtered the innocent and defenseless? To the country who waged war on Japan under a false pretense? To the emperor who abandoned two of his children because one stood up to him and the other was crippled?!"

"Wh-What…?" Clovis' eyes widened, and he gasped—in disbelief rather than in pain. "You… You can't be…!"

Lelouch smirked; so his brother _was_ smart enough to put the pieces together. He hadn't wanted to reveal his true identity to Clovis, but he would anyways. The Third Prince wouldn't be living for much longer, after all… "Yes, it is me, Big Brother. I am Lelouch vi Britannia, the prince who was abandoned by his country. And I am also Zero, the man who makes miracles. I will… destroy Britannia. And that includes you, I'm afraid."

"Y-You can't!" Clovis screamed. "Please, you and I are still bloo—gck!"

_BANG._

One more wound to add to the pool of blood. This time, through the blonde prince's stomach. His torso crashed to the ground, and he stared back at Lelouch. Whatever he tried to say was too quiet for Lelouch to hear, not that Lelouch wanted to hear anything he had to say. "Goodbye, Clovis. I doubt we'll ever meet again."

* * *

It took him several hours to walk back to Ashford Academy; the traffic restrictions added at least one of those hours to the trip. (He would never admit that his lack of endurance contributed to the majority of that time.) When he did, he was almost immediately confronted by Rivalz.

"Hey, why'd you disappear on me?" his purple-haired friend whined. "I had to walk my motorcycle all the way here by myself…"

"You didn't see me fall into the truck that almost hit us?" Lelouch asked, raising an eyebrow. Surely he couldn't have missed it…

"Wait, into the truck?" Rivalz sighed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "And here I was all ready to chew you out for ditching me on the highway… I guess that makes sense. Uh… Sorry for all the calls I made, too."

"It really is no problem," Lelouch replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyone could have made the same assumption. …Now, if you excuse me, I'd like to go to my room. I had to walk all the way from Shinjuku, and I'm exhausted." _And, if C.C. listened to my instructions, she's waiting for me there._

"Sure thing."

* * *

He froze in the doorway to his own bedroom. The scent of cheese and sauce permeated the air; four empty pizza boxes meticulously stacked on the table, a fifth half-eaten and a sixth untouched. The green-haired immortal had a slice of the fifth pizza in her mouth. (He couldn't help but note that she had changed out of the straightjacket, and was now wearing one of _his_ pale-blue buttoned-up long sleeve shirts… and he didn't think she was wearing pants.)

But the pizza, and C.C.'s attire, was not what stunned him.

What stunned him were the two other occupants of his room. A young man with shoulder-length blonde hair that was wavy, wearing a golden suit with deep amethyst lines. A suit nearly identical to the one he'd seen Zero—he'd seen _himself_—wear in his nightmares, just with its colors inverted. His eyes were blue as well—adding to the fact that his face looked remarkably similar to a younger Clovis.

The other one, a woman older than he with the same eye and hair color, and a similar facial structure. Her hair was much longer though, cascading down her back in waves. Her choice of attire was also similar to something he'd seen before—the dress that Nunnally had worn in his dreams, at least the ones in which she was the Viceroy of Area 11. But, like the man's outfit, the color scheme was different; the bow was white and the dress was pink.

"Who… Who are you?" Lelouch demanded.

The man looked over with vague amusement at first, before his eyes lit up and he smiled a particularly unnerving smile. "Why, you're back. My name is Z.Z., and this," he gestured to the girl next to him, "is my sister, S.S." His unnerving smile turns into a creepy smirk. "Well then… We finally meet, he who will pave the path of death and bloodshed under the name of Zero."

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: So Suzaku knows where Lelouch and Nunnally are hiding, Lelouch is really channelling his Zero persona ahead of time, Clovis is still dead, and Z.Z. and S.S. have revealed themselves to Lelouch and C.C…**

…**Or so it appears, at least. Never expect things to be simple when I am the author of a story.**

**Alrighty then, please leave a review! You can tell me how much you liked this chapter, give me constructive criticism, leave a suggestion as to something I should do later on in the story, anything really. I really want to know how you guys feel about my story. Thanks for reading this chapter!**


	6. Stage 6: Battle of Wits

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Jarjaxle, BlackTyrantValvatorez, Republic, A friend, mcdinh, Guest, and Demons Anarchy of Pride, and, the nine people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Someone beat you to the suggestion of having Lelouch reveal his identity to Kallen, so that was already a plan in the making (though I suppose him telling her about his Geass WOULD be different than what I had planned…). Kallen will definitely become Lelouch's genuine confidant and friend… However, I cannot guarantee anything by way of Kallen/Lelouch. I have some people telling me Lulu should be with Kallen, others who want me to pair him with C.C., and then a bunch who say it's **_**my** _**story, so I should decide. Well, I **_**have** _**decided on the pairings for this story; they'll remain a secret for the time being.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - A friend: Haha, yeah, it's pretty easy to diverge from canon now that I have Z.Z. and S.S. there. They're totally going to mess with everything now. Or at least Z.Z. is. S.S. is a little more timid than him. As for taking what you say with a grain of salt, hey, I aim to please with this fanfic, plus I asked for suggestions and constructive criticism and stuff. Taking what you said in your previous review helped me solidify a massive plot twist or three for later on in the story AND will help me increase the quality of my fanfic. I'm even taking pairing suggestions seriously from other people (this is extremely difficult because there's this one side of me that is VERY anti-anything-that-isn't-my-OTP). I welcome any and all sorts of suggestions; doesn't mean I have to use them all.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Guest: …Alright, thanks! I'm glad you think my story warrants a drawn-out "cool".**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Dang, I was expecting to get flack for what I pulled last chapter with Clovis. Or someone successfully guessing something that was alluded to in it. Oh well; I'm still extremely happy about the feedback I got, especially since I didn't think that was my best chapter.**

**And now there's this chapter.**

**You guys want some details about Z.Z. and S.S.? Well, the former does a whole lot of talking in this chapter. You might get some answers. You might get some more questions. Depends on what you're looking for.**

**I don't own Code Geass, but you should still enjoy this chapter!**

**Stage 6: Battle of Wits**

"_Well then… We finally meet, he who will pave the path of death and bloodshed under the name of Zero."_

He shut his gaping mouth, his mind already forming questions. _How does he know that I'm Zero? Why is this man—and his sister, for that matter—in my room? Are they friends of C.C.? But if that's the case, why weren't they in my nightmares? And their names… They _are _just like C.C.'s, but with different letters. What reason is that, exactly?_

"Of course, you could always choose to turn back on what you've already put in place," the younger-version-of-Clovis said. He laughed a little before he added, "Ah, but that would mean I'd have to kill you and your little sister Nunnally. How dull."

Instantly, Lelouch's face twisted in anger, his confusion abandoned. "You would _dare_ threaten Nunnally?!"

"Big Brother!" S.S. screamed, smacking the man's arm. "Don't say things like th—wait, why would you have to kill _her_ too…?"

"Did you think you had no one trapping you here, Sister? Much like I must remain here until Lelouch dies, you must remain until Nunnally does." Z.Z. uncrossed his legs, leaning forward. He propped his elbows upon his knees, resting his chin atop his clasped fingers. His gaze was now focused on Lelouch, "As long as you don't abandon the mask of Zero, I am no threat to you or to your sister."

His anger died down a little, but he was still frustrated. _I may be committed to wearing that mask, but does this man have to force it on me? And just what did he mean by being trapped 'here'? Is 'here' my room?_ He would _not_ put up with that. _Is it the school?_ Almost as bad; they could expose his identity to the students, the people he didn't want involved in this. _Is it Area 11?_ That one he could live with. They could be in a completely different part of it, _away from him_. "What do you mean by—"

"Ah-ah-ah," Z.Z. wagged his finger side to side, "answers about my sister and I don't come for free, Lelouch vi Britannia. I answered _one_ of your questions for free; the others you will have to earn from me."

Lelouch gritted his teeth; it was like this man's goal in life was to annoy everything out of him. Taking the part where he demanded to know how dare he threaten Nunnally as the "free question"… "And how exactly do you propose I 'earn' the answers, Z.Z.?" he asked, not bothering to hide the venom in his voice.

"Why, with a friendly game of chess, of course," came the reply, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He slid the stack of empty pizza boxes to the side, revealing that he had already set up the game. It looked like he would play black, while Lelouch would have to play white.

_A friendly game… right. You aren't my friend, Z.Z._ Still, he silently praised his luck. There was no way this _stranger_ was better at chess than he—_Schneizel_ was the only one who could best him. Z.Z. was either a fool or a man a bit too confident in his own chess skills. "Very well. I'll play your little game… but I'd like to play black, not white."

"Fair enough." He spun the board around, careful to not let any of the pieces move around.

The blonde-haired woman tugged at her brother's sleeve, and said something quietly. Lelouch could have sworn she said something like, "…you've never played chess before…"

He had to consciously refrain from smirking. Z.Z. was a fool, thinking he could defeat him in chess, _especially_ if this truly was his first time playing the game. Instead, he pulled up a chair and sat down opposite the blonde man. "Are you going to create any special rules for this match?"

"Same as normal chess," Z.Z. replied, still smiling confidently, "but for every piece of mine that you capture, I answer one question of yours. Win, and I answer all of them." He stared at the board, pondering it for a moment. He picked up one of his knights, and rubbed it with his thumb. "Hm… should you capture _this_ knight, I'll answer two questions instead of one."

Lelouch stared at the piece as Z.Z. set it back down. Why would the knight, rather than, say, the queen, count for two questions instead of one? "Is there something special about that piece?"

"Can't say," Z.Z. said, a glazed look in his eyes as he squinted slightly. It was as if he was trying to access a memory too far gone to recall. But the look vanished in a split second, replaced by one of deep thought. The man picked up one of his pawns—the one in front of his king—and moved it forward two spaces.

The black-haired teen blinked. It was already starting? Then, which strategy to go for? Aim to win, or aim to simply capture pieces? "Before I go, do I have to give you something in return for every piece _you_ capture?" Lelouch asked. He would not ask what would happen if Z.Z. won because he knew that would not happen.

Z.Z. hummed for a moment, eyes shut as he thought of a reply. He opened them back up, saying, "No, nothing for the pieces I capture. However, should I win, you have to guarantee my sister and I positions in the Black Knights. …Or whatever resistance group/army you form to fight against Britannia if you choose not to make it be called the Black Knights."

Then he had no reason worry about playing aggressively and losing his pieces in the process. He did not want to copy Z.Z.'s first move, though, so instead he moved the knight on the king's side forward two and right one. Should Z.Z. leave that pawn where it is, and if he didn't move a piece that would protect it, he could capture it on his next turn. No, even if he _did_ protect it, Lelouch would probably take the pawn anyways; those questions were simply _burning_ in his mind.

Z.Z.'s hand hovered over his king for several moments, but stopped once he noticed the quizzical look Lelouch was giving him. (C.C. chuckling a little helped convince him even more to not move his king). Instead, he picked up the pawn in front of his queen, and moved it to the space adjacent to his other leading pawn.

_He was going to move his king… Not only that, but he also didn't protect his pawn. This man truly is an amerature._ And so, the first of his questions would be answered. "What did you mean when you said that you and your sister were trapped 'here' until Nunnally and I die?"

The blonde pursed his lips, leaning back on the couch. "I meant that we would be trapped here, in your world, until then." He moved the pawn in front of his king-side bishop forward one place. "We can't go back to the World of C until then."

…_In _my _world?! World of C?! What the hell is this man trying to say, that he's from another _world_?!_ Lelouch coughed, masking his surprise. _That settles it. This man—and his sister, probably—are both living out some sort of delusion, and C.C. is playing along with them because they're probably the ones who ordered all this pizza._ "That's… quite the story." He moved his knight back to d-6, out of harm's way.

"You don't believe me? Strange. I could have _sworn_ one of your nightmares had been about C's World, what with your apparent knowledge of Geass and C.C."

_And he knows about my nightmares…? No, he couldn't… the only people who know about them are Suzaku and Nunnally…_

Several turns passed before Lelouch was able to take another piece; this time, Z.Z.'s white-square-bound bishop. "How do you know about my nightmares?"

"They had to come from somewhere, obviously," he answered. "I pick the when and where, and the Collective Unconscious pulls out whichever memory it pleases to at the time for me to send."

_Dammit, this is going nowhere. All he's giving me are more of his nonsensical answers. The "Collective Unconscious"? And it sounds like _I'm _the only one who gets these dreams…_

Z.Z. chewed on his lower lip. He appeared to be mulling something over as he stared blankly at his own king; though, if it was his next move or something else entirely, Lelouch could not tell. It seemed to be a combination of both… "Yes… I…" Z.Z. picked up his king, and moved it forward one square. "Don't believe this to be a foolish move. I… do this with purpose."

"Purpose? You're sending your most crucial piece into battle," C.C. suddenly said, no longer remaining a silent observer. "You're either a fool or a very large risk-taker."

Z.Z. narrowed his eyes, frowning. "If a king does not lead, then how can he expect his subordinates to follow?" The frown turned into a grimace as he held a hand to the side of his temple. "Strange… Those words feel so familiar on my tongue, and yet I have never said them before."

Strange indeed… for Lelouch had said something _very similar_ earlier that day, to Rivalz. It was far from a conventional strategy, but one that he wholeheartedly believed in. For this stranger to share that belief, despite never playing chess before… Something had to be in play here, and he wished he knew what. "Philosophy or no, you'll regret that move," Lelouch said. The move had left Z.Z.'s knight—the one worth one question, not two—out in the open. He captured it with a pawn. "What is this Collective Unconscious you spoke of, and why is it so important?"

"Combining two questions into one. Smart." He chuckled. "The Collective Unconscious is the will of mankind itself; the source of all individual identities, both living and dead. Some might refer to it as God. It exists within the World of C, and stores the memories of every human that has ever existed, living or dead. C's World itself is a bridge of sorts: once an entire generation either dies off or gains the power of a Code, their memories join the Collective Unconscious, and their souls are reborn in the next world. Of course… those with the power of the Code cannot be reborn under normal circumstances." That far-away look appeared in his eyes again. "Did that answer it?"

_Not really, but it's probably all I'll get from you right now. The metaphysical nonsense he keeps telling me is going to give me a headache. Though, I wonder what he means by those with the Code _not _being reborn…?_ "I don't suppose you'd tell me what 'special circumstances' someone with a Code needs to do in order to be reborn, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," Z.Z. said. "Though, for once it's not because you have to win the answer to it. It's actually because I simply don't know what those circumstances are." He shrugged a little, "My apologies."

_He's really trying my patience…_ Even more so when he suddenly started playing chess like a world champion—no, like _Schneizel_. Now, instead of playing aggressively, Lelouch has to pull back and protect his king. In less than ten moves, the tables had turned. And the piece giving him the most trouble was the knight—the one Z.Z. had designated as being worth two questions at the beginning. If he could capture that piece…

But what would he sacrifice to do so? Anything but his queen would do; losing the queen would put him at too much of a disadvantage… Four turns later, he had what he wanted, at the sacrifice of two pawns and a knight of his own.

"Ah… drat. I should have known that was a trap," Z.Z. grumbled, frowning as he sighed. "Ask away."

He had two questions now. He certainly had to choose them wisely. "Am I the only one you send nightmares to?"

Z.Z. nodded. "Yeah… For whatever reason, anyone else I try to send them to end up having heart attacks and… well, they die. I found that out the hard way… Oh, but not _here_, with _your_ world. With whatever world time favored back when I first started interfering with the places where I don't belong. Hate me if you wish, but I _will_ admit to inadvertently causing the deaths of previous incarnations of Suzaku, Euphemia, and even Nunnally."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, fingers curling into fists. Z.Z. was too calm for this; he was telling the truth, but he was doing it with so little emotion it angered him. The way he oh-so-nonchalantly admitted to killing _some_ version of his best friend and favorite sisters… "What do you hope to achieve by interfering in these… other worlds?"

"If left alone, all of these very different worlds play out roughly ninety-five percent the same. Being an inhabitant of C's World, my only source of entertainment is watching those other worlds go on. It would become far too boring if I had to watch the same events with the same cast—_roughly_ the same, anyways—set on a permanent repeat."

"So… you're playing God… out of boredom."

"Precisely." Z.Z. grinned as he moved his queen on a diagonal to e-3. "Check."

Violet eyes widened in shock; he mentally chastised himself for focusing too much on capturing that knight. He moved a rook to e-5, to be between his own king and Z.Z.'s queen. A bishop was covering his rook, so if Z.Z. went to claim his piece, he would essentially be giving away a question… _and_ his queen.

But as Z.Z. reached for a piece to move, the door to Lelouch's room opened up. In came a young girl with pale brown hair, her eyes shut to the world, and her body bound to a wheelchair. Her dress, at the moment, was a bright lime-green. "Big Brother, are you in here?" she asked.

"…Yes, I'm here," Lelouch replied, his entire body stiff. Nunnally was not a part of this… C.C. and the two immortals he didn't trust in the slightest—he wouldn't be surprised if they tried pulling something foolish. "Did you need something?"

"Miss Sayoko says it's time for dinner," his sister replied, "but it smells like you already had something to eat…?" She smelled the cheese and sauce; it would be hard not to.

"That would be mine," Z.Z. said, standing up from the couch. His sister clung to his sleeve—an odd sight, considering the fact that Z.Z. looked eighteen at best and S.S. looked more like she was in her mid-twenties. "I came over to play a game of chess with Lelouch, and ordered a pizza when I became hungry."

"O-Oh? Are you friends with my brother?" Nunnally asked, slightly surprised at the voice-that-was-not-her-brother's.

"No… we're more like acquaintances," Z.Z. answered.

Lelouch rolled his eyes. _We aren't even acquaintances. You set yourself up to be my ally, yet you act like my enemy. In fact, I find you about as annoying as many of my half-siblings. If I didn't think you were important, I would be perfectly fine with never seeing you again._ Still, he had to play along. "Go on ahead, Nunnally. I'll be out in a minute."

A smile formed on the brunette's face, one that warmed Lelouch's heart instantly. "Don't take too long, Big Brother. Your food might get cold!"

He chuckled while Nunnally backed her wheelchair out of his room. Everything would be alright, as long as she was fine… But then, if it was dinner, and he said he would be out in just a minute…

"I think we might just have to end this in a draw," Z.Z. mused, staring at the chessboard. "You have other things to take care of, of course. And S.S. wishes to tour the Tokyo Settlement as soon as possible…"

"I've never been outside of C's World before," the woman admitted quietly, her gaze to the floor. "That was… fun to watch, though."

"I still have questions, though," Lelouch said. It was the truth—there were so many he had yet to have answered.

"Entertain us—then I'll answer more questions." He was already out the door, his sister in tow, before Lelouch could ask what he meant. Entertain them. It could mean any number of things…

Lelouch ran a hand through his hair. "I can't believe those two are your friends, C.C."

"I never said they were my friends," the green-haired woman replied curtly. "I've never met them before—and I would certainly remember someone as peculiar as Z.Z."

_C.C. doesn't know who they are? I thought that she would… there can't be _that _many immortals running around the world. Maybe they were wearing a disguise of some sort? …Actually, that could explain their lack of appearances in my nightmares—they're actually someone in one of those. But if that's the case, then who…?_

From killing his half-brother to all of the bizarre answers Z.Z. gave, he had a lot to think about over dinner that night.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: So. Z.Z. vs. Lelouch in chess had to end in a draw because it was interrupted. And now you know at least a little bit about the multiple worlds thing and Z.Z.'s motivations. And S.S. is, for the moment, going to remain a rather timid person. Like she said, she's never been outside of C's World (at least according to her memories). It's natural for her to be some level of shy around people who aren't her brother. (**_**By the way**_**, Z.Z. wasn't lying at all during this chapter, so don't try to read too hard into anything he said.)**

**It'll all work out in the end… if Z.Z. would stop being a stuck-up prick and not want to vaguely answer Lelouch's questions, that is.**

**I'm sorry I didn't fully detail the chess match, though. I thought it would get boring and/or repetitive if I did so. (Or I'd back one of them into a corner by having them make a completely idiotic move—it's been awhile since I've played chess.)**

**Please, leave a review! I'm always open to feedback!**


	7. Stage 7: Zero Vision

_*****Thanks to mcdinh, Ulrich362, JumpingToaster, XT3100, Jarjaxle, BlackTyrantValvatorez, Demons Anarchy of Pride, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, MM Browsing, OBSERVER01, and A friend, the eleven people who reviewed the previous chapter, and OBSERVER01, who also reviewed chapter 5!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - A friend: I'm… kind of curious as to what it was that you WERE expecting. Though, if you don't want to, you don't have to tell me your expectations. Thanks for still reviewing, though!**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Hm. Originally, it was my intention to have the public debut of Zero aka. the Orange Incident occur during this chapter. Then my muses went and decided, "Screw it! Foreshadowing and development for S.S. time!"**

**I also wasn't intending to finish this chapter before Saturday, so I could post it then (Saturday is my 16th birthday if anyone cares to know). But, once again, my muses decided they didn't want to wait.**

**In any case, this chapter is still quite fun… and by fun I mean evil.**

**I don't own Yu-G—CRAP WRONG FANDOM I MEANT Code Geass, but I still hope you enjoy!**

**Stage 7: Zero Vision**

Kallen Kozuki—or rather, Kallen _Stadtfeld_—was at school the next day, pretending to be the frail-bodied daughter of a nobleman. But Lelouch knew who she really was—a half-Japanese young woman who fought for the terrorists in Shinjuku. She had also been one of, if not _the_, most loyal of his—of _Zero's_—followers in his visions.

He had to tell her who he really was. Not _right now_, but soon. Perhaps after his public debut as Zero because right now, she did not trust him. Would he tell her about his Geass? It would depend on how much she wanted to know. Telling people about his Geass could be dangerous… but then again, so could hiding it…

"What's up, buddy? See something you like?" Rivalz teased as he elbowed Lelouch. He'd noticed that his friend had been staring quite intently at the red-head. "You've got a thing for her, don't you?"

"Just thinking this is a rare event," Lelouch replied, turning to face his friend. "She hasn't been here at school since this whole term started—"

* * *

_He suddenly couldn't see. He was drowning in an endless sea of darkness, and in one of emotions. He felt _hatred_, hatred directed towards him. He felt _fear_, fear from others about whatever was going to happen. But the one he felt the most was _relief_. He knew that, for some reason, that relief was coming from inside of him._

_He tried to call out, but his mouth stayed shut. He tried to move, but his arms and legs would not respond._

_And then he could see. The inside of a dimly-lit throne room—the inside of the _Holy Britannian Empire's _throne room—with only two occupants. He, Lelouch, dressed in white robes with golden trim, a red eye-like symbol tipped on its side adorning both the front and the back of it, was one of them. The other was Suzaku, in a skin-tight uniform not unlike a custom one for Knightmare pilots, the legs a deep royal blue and the torso mostly white—the eye-like symbols were on his outfit as well._

_He could only watch as this other version of him held out a mask—the mask of Zero—to Suzaku. "Suzaku, you have to kill me… You must promise."_

_A flash._

_The throne room was gone; instead, he stood on the edge of a large, ornate parade float. He saw the members of the Black Knights along with several others he did not recognize, bound to poles on trucks flanking the float. He saw Schneizel, dressed in rags, chained to a pole just in front of the float. And he saw Nunnally—his pure, innocent sister—chained to a platform on the front of the float he was on._

_And then all he could feel was pain. His entire body felt like it was on fire, centered just above his stomach. If he could move, he would have doubled over. If he could speak, he would have cried out._

_He soon found out the source of the pain: there his alternate stood, in front of the throne stationed on the float, still dressed in those ornate robes—as though _he _was the Emperor of Britannia. He was not alone, however. Zero—yes, the masked man that _he _had created; that _he _was going to be—stood in front of him, hands gripping a sword tightly._

_A sword whose blade had pierced this other Lelouch through the exact spot that was causing him so much pain._

"…_You shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life for the benefit of the world… for eternity…" Lelouch told the person beneath the Zero costume, his bloodied hand pressed against their mask._

_Another flash._

_Suddenly the dying man was at the bottom of the float, on the platform right next to Nunnally. A bloodstain covered the ramp above the two, smeared across it vertically as though the other Lelouch had slid down it. His sister clung to his hand, tears in her eyes._

"_Yes… I… I destroy… the world… and create it… anew…"_

…

_And barely a whisper, "Don't make the same mistakes I did… Lelouch…"_

* * *

Lelouch's eyes snapped open while he inhaled sharply. His head spun, and there were phantom pains dancing around inside his chest. His heart beat rapidly, and he could not slow it down. _Th-That was… That was my own death, but why? What happened to make me order Suzaku to kill me? Was I really Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire in that? And if so, why was I having the Black Knights executed—and why the hell would I allow Nunnally to be chained up like that?! Also, what did my last words mean…? Destroying the world and creating it anew—_

All of a sudden, he felt arms grabbing him, squeezing him tight. "Lulu! Oh, thank God you're alright!"

He finally saw where he was: on one of the cots inside of the nurse's office. Shirley was the one almost crushing his rib cage, and both Rivalz and Milly were standing behind her, looks of relief on their faces. He blinked a few times—_why am I in the nurse's office?_—and eventually settled on squeezing his eyes shut. "Shirley, you're crushing me…" he grumbled into her ear.

The orangette released him immediately, her face turning bright red. "Ah—s-sorry Lulu… I was just…"

"Man Lelouch, you had us all worried sick," Rivalz said with a sigh.

_Worried? But all I did was probably pass out in front of them, right? It's not like that's an uncommon event at this school. Why would they be worried…?_ He held a hand to his head. "Why were you worried about me?"

"Well, you kinda started screaming and grabbing at your chest when you fell…" Rivalz looked away.

"…And you almost stopped breathing…" Shirley added quietly.

* * *

Instead of going back to his room—like he had been practically ordered to by both the nurse and his friends—Lelouch set off to find where Z.Z. and S.S. had gone off to. They would give him the answers he wanted one way or another—Z.Z.'s "entertainment" be damned. He had the right to know more about that mysterious dream, and about why he had _almost died_ because of it.

"_Yeah… For whatever reason, anyone else I try to send them to end up having heart attacks and… well, they die."_ Z.Z.'s words echoed in Lelouch's mind, but they only made him try coming up with more questions surrounding the vision of his own death.

_Could there be more people like Z.Z. and S.S. that are hostile to me? Did they send me that hoping that I would die? Then again, Z.Z. said that they _all _died. If that were the case, then I would be dead, and I most certainly am _not_. I also can't rule out the possibility of there being other immortals who decide to interfere with others. Z.Z. would definitely hide that fact if I didn't specifically ask about it…_

It surprised him that he did not have to walk far; in fact, he almost missed S.S. as he started down the sidewalk just outside the campus. She was wearing a wide-brimmed white hat with an orange ribbon on it, the brim tilted down to almost cover her eyes from his perspective. She was also not wearing that dress—she was instead wearing a pale blue jacket over a white shirt, and a pair of black jeans. It was only when she reached out and grabbed his arm that he realized who she was. "We need to speak in private," she said quietly.

"I agree," Lelouch replied. Hopefully, she would be more cooperative than her brother…

* * *

With all the students in class, it was easy to sneak S.S. back on campus and into his room. No one would bother them there; for all his friends knew, he was resting. He noted that C.C. was not in his room—that worried him just a little because of how important she was, and how much could be messed up if she was caught.

"The witch is fine. She's with my brother," S.S. said.

He narrowed his eyes. Was it a coincidence, or did she just read his mind? It would not surprise him, if the latter was the case. "I never said anything about being worried about her."

"Oh… I-I just… you were looking for something so intently… I assumed…" The blonde slipped back into the overly timid persona, staring at her lap and fiddling with her thumbs.

_She's not a mind reader, then. Unless she's lying, of course, but I don't think she is…_ "That's actually what I was thinking. You just caught me off-guard."

S.S. heaved a sigh of relief, a small smile on her face. Her hands stopped fidgeting. "Sorry, then. I'm… Like I said yesterday, this is my first time outside of C's World, and… because of that, it's also the first time I've ever been around people who aren't my brother. S-So if I get awkward or say something strange, that's why."

_This woman… has only ever known her brother? Based on what Z.Z. was saying yesterday, they've both been alive for quite some time. This is… almost as bad as an eternity of solitude._ "I see."

S.S. hummed a little, "But that's enough about me! Z.Z. sent me back here to make sure you were alright. Did something happen?"

"Yes, actually. I spent most of the morning unconscious after, quite literally, almost having a heart attack," Lelouch replied. "The reason I was going to go into the Settlement was because I thought you or your brother could explain what I saw while I was unconscious…"

He explained everything he had seen in that strange vision while she listened intently, a slight look of confusion buried deep within her eyes. He spoke of being Emperor, of passing the mask of Zero to Suzaku, of sending the Black Knights, Schneizel, and Nunnally to their executions, of "Zero" publically assassinating him, and of dying in Nunnally's arms.

S.S. nodded slowly. "…Yeah. That's… that's… It's on the tip of my tongue…" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Zero… Re… Requiem. Zero Requiem. But… are you sure there were Knightmares guarding your float?"

"I'm certain."

"Well then, that doesn't add up. The only world where Zero Requiem happened… didn't have Knightmares."

_A world without Knightmares? That sounds like it would almost be peaceful, and yet it wasn't. Not if I had to orchestrate my own death for some reason…_ "What's this 'Zero Requiem' you keep talking about?"

She explained to him that it was a plan he had concocted in the wake of Nunnally's "death"—his other self had no idea she was not dead until he had gone too far to turn back—that would fulfil her wish of the world becoming a gentler place. He became Emperor, and proceeded to do all sorts of horrific things—enslaving his people, taking the leaders of every other nation hostage, taking control of fortress that nothing could defeat—all to make the world's hate be upon his shoulders. "Zero", the embodiment of the people's hopes, could then kill him—and hatred would die along with him.

To him, it sounded like an unfinished plan. The peace that his death bought for the world… without several other failsafes in place, it would most likely not last for very long. A few years, at the most. But he also wondered… what sort of hell that version of Lelouch had to live through to be so willing to order his own death. It couldn't have _just_ been Nunnally's supposed death—yes, he would be _devastated_ if that happened, but there _had_ to be other factors.

"So, you say that this Zero Requiem has only ever happened once in all the other worlds you've witnessed, but it was in a world where Knightmares did not exist, meaning my dream is just a weird sort of coincidence?"

"It really can't be a coincidence, though," S.S. said. "You didn't know about the Zero Requiem before now—there's no way your subconscious decided to graft the robots into a previous dream you've had about it. Not only that… but the fact that you almost had a heart attack when you started having it…"

"Are there others like you?" Lelouch asked. "Perhaps one of them has seen more than you have, and they—"

"No. It's impossible," S.S. interrupted him. "Z.Z. and I are the only ones who know how to send visions, and my big brother is the only one who actually can. And… And the Collective Unconscious told us that the first world we saw—that one lacking Knightmares—was, in fact, the first to exist. They've never lied to us before… so…"

_But then where did my dream come from? And why… at the end, why did he—why did he speak to me directly? What sort of mistakes did he make…?_

"Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed, as though she remembered something. The blonde grabbed her satchel, and dug through it for something. (He had no idea how he didn't notice it there before.) She pulled out some sort of book, and handed it to Lelouch. "Before I forget, Z.Z. asked me to return this to you."

It was _not_ just a book. The cover had been torn off a while ago, the edges of each page frayed and torn, the stains of dried liquid staining many of the pages. He could still make out the handwriting on the first page; the faded ink made by the shaky hand of a teary-eyed six-year-old boy. Anger boiled up inside of him. "Why did Z.Z. take my journal?!" he shouted.

"Eep!" S.S. shielded her face with her arms. "I-I'm sorry! Big Brother, h-he wanted to know what dreams you've had t-to see how much you kn-know… I-It varies based on wh-what world… and t-time…"

He scowled, but forced himself to calm down. S.S. wasn't the thief—her brother was. And it wasn't like they had destroyed his journal. They only wanted to read it—even the note he used as a placeholder was still there, undamaged. "Just… don't touch my things without my permission."

"O-Okay…" she said with a shy nod. "Um… there's… one more thing… Z.Z… he wants to… he wants us to be there when you stage the public appearance of Zero. That's why he's out shopping—he had to buy us both costumes."

_He was serious about wanting to join the Black Knights? I thought he'd only said that to get further under my skin. Nn… I can't just let him run around, but do I really want him as a close ally? I suppose he'd be a much better ally than foe…_ "You'll both be helping me?"

She nodded. "Yeah! We'll do whatever it is you need us to do—oh!" Her legs suddenly gave out from underneath her, and she ungracefully fell to her rear. "T-Tch… that smarts…"

"Are you alright?" He offered her a hand.

"I'm fine… this happens from time to time. Give me about ten minutes and I'll be able to walk again." She ignored his outstretched hand and began massaging her own legs. "I wish my legs wouldn't do this…"

Lelouch stared at her. Should he ask why she suffered from this… condition? Or could she not know why it happened to her? Either way… if she was to be part of the Black Knights, he could not give her a fighting role—not if she was a walking timebomb. _Just my luck… the one I might be able to trust is useless, while the one who I don't trust is the one wishes to be my ally…_

It was eight minutes later that S.S. regained the use of her legs.

It was nine minutes later when she walked out of his room.

It was ten minutes later when Lelouch sat down at his desk, the journal detailing all of his previous nightmares laid out in front of him.

"_Don't make the same mistakes I did… Lelouch…"_

Whoever that was in his mysterious vision earlier, he vowed to change everything.

He had some planning to do before the announcement of his half-brother's death.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: And now Lelouch knows something about the Zero Requiem. Oh, and S.S. wasn't lying when she said she it happened in a world without Knightmares; it's called the Lelouch of the Rebellion manga (of which I don't actually know the end, but from what I can gather it didn't have Knightmares so IT WORKS). Yes, I'm tying in all of the manga-verses with previous worlds that Z.Z. and S.S. have witnessed (this was before Z.Z. decided to entertain himself by interfering with those worlds). Now, why she is unaware of the existence of the anime world, well…**

**Aha, I just **_**love**_ **answering questions with more questions. …Actually I don't, but this just happens to be how everything has to play out.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Check back next time for the Orange Incident, with Z.Z. and S.S. by Lelouch/Zero's side!**

**And in the meantime, review!**


	8. Stage 8: The Start of Revolution

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, BlackTyrantValvatorez, Republic, mcdinh, Demons Anarchy of Pride, A friend/lifeswordpa, northernlion196, Jarjaxle, OBSERVER01, Matsukaze Tenma, and 1000 Cherry Blossoms, the eleven people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: And like I said earlier, I fully intend for Lelouch to tell Kallen his identity very soon; he just wants to make sure she trusts him first. As for making the chapters longer… I thought they've been a decent length, starting to be roughly 3,000 words long. I won't make them too long, but this chapter is definitely longer. See, longer chapters would mean two things: less frequent updates and less powerful cliffhangers.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - A friend: I sent my reply to your new account. Hope you got it, and welcome to this site!**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Hey guys, guess what? I lied, the Orange Incident is **_**next**_ **chapter.**

…**I'm kidding, by the way. It's at the end of this chapter. There's just a little more backstory pertaining specifically to the changes I've made, and then the new circumstances of Lelouch/Zero recruiting Kallen and Ohgi to help him during the Orange Incident. It actually took a lot longer than I thought it would… which is why I'm glad that Republic challenged me to write longer chapters. I really don't like telling everyone that one thing is going to happen, and then either the exact opposite happens or I have to postpone that event.**

**Anyways, I don't own Code Geass. Enjoy!**

**Stage 8: The Start of Revolution**

Lelouch woke up the next morning with his face pressed against his journal, a pen abandoned an inch from his hand. He couldn't remember falling asleep—then again, he _had_ been obsessing over his plans. At some point he must have exhausted his own brain…

"You talk in your sleep."

The exiled prince, startled, jumped up. However, his leg caught on the chair, causing him to trip over and land quite ungracefully over the top of the offending piece of furniture. He stood up, muttering curses under his breath, and glared at the woman in his room. "Who let you in here?"

C.C., her body draped over the edge of his bed, looked utterly apathetic. "You told me you would answer my questions when you told me to come to Ashford, or have you forgotten that promise?"

He frowned slightly. It wasn't that he had forgotten what he told her, it was more that the arrival of S.S. and Z.Z. had distracted him. Not only that, but she had spent the day following the other two immortals. Wouldn't _she_ have gotten more answers from them than he did? "Very well… what is it that you want to know?"

"Tell me more about your nightmares. Z.Z. wouldn't explain anything while he was reading through your journal…"

Lelouch looked down and stared at his journal. He didn't really want to divulge the history of his nightmares to C.C. Yes, she had been his accomplice in the world of his dreams. (Or could it be _worlds_, pieces from several completely different continuities strewn together…?) Yes, he felt that he could trust her. (At least in comparison to _those two_…) But talking about it meant reliving the two most horrifying moments of his life: of his mother's death and Nunnally's injuries—_(he could still see the blood, hear his sister's screams, see her broken body on the hospital bed…)_; and of the war between Japan and Britannia—_(the bodies, the stench, the heat)_.

…_I suppose she'll only bother me until I do tell her._

He closed his eyes as he recanted the first time he ever had one of his special nightmares. He had only been six at the time, and he had dreamt of his mother's death. He had been so unsettled about it that, despite normally being a very collected and mature child, he had clung to the skirt of his mother's dress for a day and cried. When he'd finally been able to talk about what had happened, Marianne had assured him that she would be fine, and that she would never let anything happen to Nunna, either. She had also been the one to suggest the dream journal, as a way to ease his worries.

It had worked, for a time at least. The nightmares had occurred far less frequently back then, and none of them had been as shocking as the first—the only two that vividly came to mind were of walking through the destroyed Japanese village with Nunnally on his back and Suzaku behind him, lying to Nunnally that the smell was garbage and not rotting flesh, and of killing his half-brother Clovis. The others made too little sense for him to fear. (Now that he was older and had a lot more information, the other dreams certainly worried him.) He had never spent the entire day crying over those dreams again; he would simply record them in his journal and forget they ever happened.

Then came his mother's actual death. He had been nigh inconsolable after watching his nightmare unfold directly in front of him. That moment made him start to wonder if he had somehow seen the future, but he wouldn't let that idea ever go anywhere. It was _impossible_—people couldn't just _see_ the future. (Unless there was a Geass for that…?)

It was as though his mother's death was a catalyst for the nightmares. Instead of only occurring once, maybe twice a month, they started happening almost every single night. They still weren't nearly as bad as that first dream, but he had to make the entries in his journal far less detailed.

Though, if anything had been a catalyst, it had to be finding C.C. in the capsule. That was when he truly started to admit that his dreams had some base of truth. A base in another world, apparently. "_If left alone, all of these very different worlds play out roughly ninety-five percent the same…"_ He could still apply those dreams to his plans.

He opened his eyes. "Is that all?"

The green-haired woman stared for a moment. "Are you going to offer me breakfast?"

Where she could probably run into Nunnally? "I'll bring you something. Stay here, or I will never buy you pizza again."

"Again? Z.Z. was the one who bought me pizza two nights ago."

"Shut up, witch. You know what I mean."

* * *

Nunnally was indeed in the dining room already, a plate only with crumbs on it pushed off to her side. Directly in front of her were several finished paper birds—origami cranes, he realized—and another was currently being made by her. The girl raised her head towards Lelouch. "Big Brother! You're here!"

"Ah, yes, I am, Nunnally. Did I have you worried?" he returned, sitting down next to her.

"Well… I haven't seen you since breakfast two days ago, and Shirley told me you collapsed in the middle of class yesterday… oh…" The sheet of paper in her hands ripped down the side, and she put it down on the table with a frown on her face.

He already knew why she was making them, but he still had to ask. _To reaffirm my true goal… if Nunnally's wish is different, then I will change my plans as necessary._ "Nunnally… what are you making?"

"Oh, it's a paper crane! Miss Sayoko showed me how to make them yesterday. Did you know there's a legend about them? If you fold a thousand of these, your wish will come true!"

"Is that so?"

"Uh-huh! Do you have a wish, Big Brother?"

"It depends. What's your wish, Nunnally?"

She paused, putting a finger to her lips as she contemplated the question. "I wish… I wish the world was a gentler place."

_The same, then._ "A gentler world, huh? How funny, that's what I wish for as well." _That's right. A peaceful world, where the strong cannot oppress the weak, where we don't have to live in constant fear of assassination, where we can live normal lives…_ "I'm sure that world will be a reality by the time you open your eyes."

His sister smiled. "Do you promise?"

"Yes… I would do anything for a world where we can live happily," Lelouch replied.

She made him pinkie promise on it—something else he was expecting her to do. He simply smiled, went along with it, and joked that he didn't intend to be eating any needles. The two siblings continued to joke about what they would do in such a peaceful world, until Sayoko came in and said that they should be getting to school soon.

He'd completely forgotten about his own breakfast… and the food he'd sort-of promised C.C. he would get.

* * *

_Let's try this again… without almost dying._ As soon as class was over, Lelouch snuck a note he had typed up into Kallen's bag. It wasn't likely that she could trace it back to him, but in the case that she did, he would be ready.

Kallen noticed the note at lunchtime, when she went to grab her phone to talk to Ohgi. She would have passed it off as garbage—something that ended up in there accidentally, or a stupid love letter from one of her classmates—but froze when she saw who it was addressed to. _Q-1._ The only person who knew that codename outside of her friends in the resistance group was the mysterious voice on the radio, Zero.

The man who helped them protect the citizens of Shinjuku, captured an advanced Knightmare Frame, and even saved Nagata's life.

_How did… when did he…?_ It had to have been someone in one of her classes. There wasn't another time for them to slip a note into her bag. _But is Zero _really _a Britannian student? Or did he just use one of them to get this note to me? How the hell does he know who I am, anyways? I never told him my last name, and even if one of the others did, they would have called me Kozuki, not Stadtfeld._

This Zero person was just as resourceful off the battlefield as he was on it.

Kallen looked around the courtyard. No one paid her any mind, too absorbed in their own conversations. Her Britannian "friends"—_god_ did she hate calling them that—were running away from a bee in the complete opposite direction of her. That meant no one would see her read the note… She opened it cautiously, as though it was a bomb in her hands and not a slip of paper.

_Q-1,_

_The observation deck of Tokyo Tower at 16:00 hours, the day after Prince Clovis is announced dead and Suzaku Kururugi is arrested for his murder. Bring your friends from that resistance group if you wish. I will answer your questions there._

_\- Zero_

The redhead stared incredulously at the note. Zero couldn't possibly think that… the G-1 was too well-guarded for anyone to sneak in, much less kill the Viceroy himself. And to think that Suzaku did it? That traitor abandoned Japan to become an honorary Britannian. There was no way he would kill Clovis.

Later that day, she found herself staring at a news program showing Suzaku Kururugi in a straightjacket being escorted by Britannian soldiers… under suspicion of the murder of Prince Clovis and several members of the royal guard.

_Holy shit…_

* * *

Suzaku Kururugi sat silently in the interrogation room, trying to figure out what he had screwed up in order to land himself in this position. All he'd done was make his way back to the G-1 and, after profusely apologizing to the distraught Lloyd for abandoning the Lancelot, wanted to see if that terrorist on the radio had _somehow_ been correct.

He'd found Prince Clovis, on the ground in front of his throne, barely clinging to life after being shot through both knees and the stomach. He'd done what any normal soldier would do—immediately called for help, then tried to stop the bleeding until emergency services made it there. They had actually praised him for his actions—he might have saved the prince's life.

But then everything had gone wrong.

He had gone to clean the blood off his hands—_it could have just as well belonged to Lelouch and he couldn't stand that_—when he was grabbed from behind and arrested. It had been done without explanation, without reason, without any inkling of _why_. And every time he tried to ask, one of the soldiers escorting him would smack him across the face. He had no idea how much time had passed when he sat in his jail cell, and then they'd brought him to an interrogation room an hour ago and had left him alone…

The door opened. In walked two soldiers, accompanied by a blue-haired, orange-eyed man in a fancy blue suit with a high collar, a red winged pin attached to the lapel of his jacket. Suzaku recognized him immediately—how couldn't he?—as Jeremiah Gottwald, head of the Purist Faction.

Jeremiah sat down across from him, placing an evidence bag on the table. A handgun—the one issued to all officers except honorary Britannians—was inside of it. Suzaku felt his face flush; he had an idea of where this was going. If only he had believed the voice on the radio, the one that said someone named Zero was on their way to assassinate the Viceroy. The crime was being pinned on _him_ now, wasn't it?

A smug grin appeared on the Margrave's face. "I take it you _have_ seen this weapon before, then. The one used to rob Prince Clovis of his life."

"No, you've got it wrong. I've never…" They all looked the same; what if this gun was somehow the one his commander had ordered him to shoot Lelouch with? It would mean he would be lying. "The Viceroy… he's dead?"

"He succumbed to his injuries earlier today, I'm afraid," the blue-haired man replied. Suzaku couldn't tell what emotion the man had in his voice.

The brown-haired teenager closed his eyes while he bowed his head. If he'd only been a little faster… maybe Prince Clovis could have lived. _Lelouch… Nunnally… you never really spoke highly of him, but I'm sorry I couldn't protect your half-brother. I should have tried harder…_

"Showing regret for your crimes, are you now?" Jeremiah asked. "Or… is that relief you're trying to _mask_ as regret, relief that your attempt to kill the prince succeeded?"

"What are you talking about? I tried to _save_ him, not kill him!" Why were they trying to pin the blame on him? He was innocent—did they know that? He gasped when one of the guards kicked the chair out from underneath him. Without the use of his arms, he had no way to cushion himself from landing on the floor.

Indifferent about the act that just took place in front of him, the Margrave continued talking down to Suzaku. "A likely cover story in case he'd survived." Jeremiah pointed to the gun in the evidence bag. "Unfortunately for you, Private Kururugi, you left your fingerprints all over this weapon."

That settled it. They _were_ trying to pin the blame on him. The only time he'd ever held one of those guns was in the subway tunnel underneath Shinjuku, and his hands had been gloved at the time. These people were… using the prince's death to further their own agenda? Suzaku almost growled in anger.

"You're also under suspicion for murdering members of the royal guard," Jeremiah added. "Come clean now, and you will be judged as though you were born a Britannian, not some worthless Eleven."

"You're wrong… I didn't kill anyone!" Suzaku screamed. (But that's a lie; he _had_ killed before. Seven years ago…) He forced the memories back, not wanting to relive that event again. "I… I… I have an alibi!" Being unconscious after the commander of the royal guard shot him, then being captured by the terrorists… "And I know who _did_ kill—"

They would not hear it. The same guard who had kicked the chair out from underneath him kicked him in the face. He tasted blood before blacking out, wondering where the justice in all of this was.

* * *

Four o'clock in the afternoon, the day after Suzaku Kururugi was arrested for the murder of Prince Clovis, could not come soon enough for Kallen. Zero sure as hell owed them answers—how he knew the prince was dead before it was released to the public, how he knew Suzaku was going to be arrested for it, how he was able to get his hands on that train of Sutherlands, everything.

She glanced at her phone. _15:59._ Just one more minute and he should be there…

Kallen couldn't help but notice that no one else was on the observation deck—it was only her and three of her friends. Ohgi, Kento, and Tamaki had been the only ones willing to follow her; the others in their group were far too skeptical about the whole thing.

_16:00._

A blinding flash surrounded them. Kallen heard Tamaki shout, "What the hell?!" She blinked a few times, trying to force her vision back to normal—

A man donned in a black cape trimmed with gold stood in front of them. The cape covered most of his body, and even created a cone around his head with its high collar. A mask covered his entire face—a purple glass cover set into black, spiked out behind his head. "I see you've made it here in one piece, Q-1. These are your friends, I presume?"

"You… Are you Zero?!" Kallen demanded.

"I am," the masked man replied. He paused for a moment. "I believe I said I would answer your questions. Well?"

She thought it would be best to start at the beginning. "How'd you get your hands on a Sutherland?"

"I asked for it. Sometimes all you have to do is be polite."

_Bullshit. No soldier would just hand over their Knightmare if someone _asked _for it…_ "What about that white Knightmare? How'd you know it was going to show up in Shinjuku?"

The man behind the mask hummed for a moment. _Should I really tell them?_ he thought. _They don't trust me at this point—and they'd think I'm a madman if I start pouring metaphysical theories down their throats._ "An informant of mine told me that a research group had finished the first seventh-generation Knightmare Frame. I assumed that they would send it in the event of 'terrorists' fighting back, and prepared accordingly," he said. It wasn't a complete lie. "Being able to predict your opponent's moves can be very useful in the game called war."

"Hold on a second, war?" Ohgi asked. "There's no way you think you could… and it isn't a game, either!"

Zero laughed. "Then do you believe Britannia will fall to terrorism? It's little more than childish nuisance to them."

Kallen narrowed her eyes. This Zero person thought he could lead an army against Britannia, and win? That could be… "You think you can defeat Britannia?"

"I've shown you that I can—in Shinjuku," he said. "And not only that… The reason I knew why the Viceroy was dead before it was announced to the public… It's because _I_ am the one who killed him."

_N-No way…!_

"Aw hell… Then why didn't ya claim credit for it?" Tamaki asked. "You're just lettin' Kururugi take the fall…"

"I never said that I would let him take the fall. In fact, that is exactly why I called you here today." The masked man threw both of his arms out in emphasis. "I wish to enlist your aid… in freeing Suzaku Kururugi from the escort to his court martial tomorrow."

"You're insane. There's no way you can…"

Kallen could almost feel his gaze on her. "You still do not trust me?" he asked.

Honestly, she did. If not for the fact that he hid his face, but for what he managed to pull off in Shinjuku. "I… No. How can we trust you?"

"Lose the mask!" her blue-haired friend said.

"Yeah… how're we supposed to trust someone that won't even show us their face?" Ohgi added.

_Show them my face?_ Zero though. _No, it's too early for that._ "I cannot."

"Then we can't help you," Ohgi said. "How do we know you aren't leading us into a trap?"

Someone behind them began laughing. The four Japanese rebels spun around, only to find two people there; one woman and one man. The man, who looked remarkably similar to the late Viceroy, dressed in a dark golden suit with purple trim. He was the one laughing. The woman was in a similar costume, with the sleeves cut off and the collar raised higher. It was also, of course, fit for a woman instead of a man. She looked almost identical to the man.

"If he was leading you into a trap, don't you think he'd have gotten rid of you in Shinjuku? Or, better yet, simply left you to die by the hands of those soldiers who blindly followed the orders of Prince Clovis to kill everyone within the Ghetto?" the laughing man asked. "He could have also had you killed right here and now. A well-placed explosive, a hidden sniper, poison gas… but he did none of those things."

"Who're you?" Kallen asked. The two newcomers seemed… off, somehow. Like there was something that made them unique. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. They could be very, very dangerous…

"Us? We are Zero's accomplices. Z.Z., at your service," the blonde said with a bow.

"I'm S.S.," the blonde woman said. "Z.Z. is my older brother."

Zero tapped his foot impatiently, to draw the attention back to himself. Kallen could have sworn he seemed fed up with the people calling themselves his accomplices… "As I was saying, I cannot show you my face. I do not trust you, either, to go around revealing my identity—one that cannot be revealed to Britannia except on my own terms."

_What…? Why can't Britannia know about his identity? Could he really be a student at Ashford Academy?_

"If you do not wish to trust me, you may go," Zero said. "And, should you change your mind after witnessing my miracles firsthand, I would be glad to let you join me at a later date. But make your decision now—will you continue down the path you are on, the path of terrorism, or will you cast your lot with me? I am Zero, the man of miracles. I will destroy Britannia, and create a world of peace."

* * *

In the end, Kallen and Ohgi were the only people who joined him. Just like in the world of his visions. But unlike that other world, he also had Z.Z. and S.S. to aid him… and a trump card in the shape of Viletta Nu. The "Orange Incident" could play out entirely differently this time around, without needing to use his Geass on Jeremiah.

The truck, disguised as Clovis' personal transport, stopped. The thin sheet in front of him burned to a crisp. It was time for his debut to the world.

Lelouch stepped forward, a smirk on his face despite knowing no one would be able to see it. "I am… Zero!" he declared. He stared at Jeremiah, head of the escort, then looked around. Viletta was indeed still there, and Suzaku was bound to the center of that truck. _Hang in there, Suzaku. You won't be a prisoner for much longer._

* * *

_Zero? _This _is Zero?!_ Suzaku thought as he gawked at the masked man who had the balls to confront a _military transport_. _That means… he's the one who killed Prince Clovis!_ But he couldn't speak, not with the electric collar on his neck. Margrave Jeremiah and the others wouldn't know the truth unless…

…Unless Zero admitted to the murder, after showing off the "poison gas" capsule, and tried to exchange it for Suzaku. Just some more things Suzaku wanted to protest—the capsule did _not_ actually have poison gas inside, and he certainly did _not_ want to go anywhere with a murderer (not to mention the fact that Zero had been the one to take Lelouch hostage).

And when Jeremiah refused to comply, raising his gun against the masked man once again, he didn't seem to bat an eye. Suzaku watched as the truck started inching forward. "Careful now, Jeremiah. You don't wish the public to know of Orange, do you? If I die, it will all go public…"

_Orange…? What does that mean…?_

The soldiers next to him didn't seem to have any idea either.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Jeremiah retorted. "Your threats hold no leverage over me!"

"Hmph. I see. I guess that means you won't…" Zero grabbed at his collar—_and Suzaku gasped because it was the exact hand position he and Lelouch used when they wanted to talk on the roof, but there was just no way that Zero was Lelouch_—and he said, "…help me to escape, along with your prisoner."

Chaos. That was all Suzaku could use describe what happened after Zero finished his statement. One of the Sutherlands—_one belonging to a loyal Pureblood_—slammed into the one Jeremiah was standing on top of. The blue-haired man fell off of it—how could he have stayed on, not strapped to the cockpit?—and Suzaku lost sight of him.

"_Viletta! What are you doing?"_ Kewell's voice crackled over the intercom.

"_We must comply to Zero's wishes!"_ the woman shouted back, shooting at her fellow pilot.

And while the Sutherlands began fighting each other… pink gas from within the canister began flooding the sky. The Britannians gathered by the roadside all began screaming, and ran. Even the two soldiers who were supposed to execute Suzaku on the spot if anything had happened fled for their lives (more so because of someone shooting at _them_ than due to the gas, though).

A woman jumped onto the top of the float, shortly followed by a man. They both had blonde hair and dark golden suits with purple trim, their visor-like masks of a similar design. He couldn't see their eyes through the slits in the mask, though Suzaku didn't think it mattered. He didn't recognize them at all…

The woman approached him, a knife in her hands. "Don't worry Suzaku," she whispered as she cut him loose from his constraints. "We only want to help…"

"I never—ngh!" He'd forgotten about the electric collar, and it silenced him. He made do with glaring at his "rescuers" instead. _I never asked for your help. Now you've gone and put innocent lives at risk. Do you really think I'll be grateful for your "help"?!_

The girl smiled—almost apologetically—at him, and proceeded to put pressure on a spot on Suzaku's shoulder.

The last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the man with her smirking at him.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: Phew… that really **_**was**_ **longer than normal. Like, a full one thousand words longer. Do you guys prefer chapters to be about this long? Or do you like them shorter? …Also, do you like how I'm trying to get the perspectives of the whole cast in here, or would you prefer that I stick with following Lelouch?**

**Anyways, to the content itself. I may not have detailed the entirety of the Orange Incident, but it works better like this. Once again, I didn't want to just copy-paste the anime. Even the scene where Nunnally tells Lelouch her wish is changed around (both occurring at a different time than the anime and with different dialogue to go with it). …And I must admit, while it was **_**really**_ **hard to come up with what C.C. should say, that first scene was **_**extremely**_ **fun to write. Also, Z.Z. and S.S. were not wearing masks when they were in Tokyo Tower, but they are during the Orange Incident. If you need a reference to what their masks look like, think the one that "Marth" in **_**Fire Emblem: Awakening**_ **wears, only gold and purple instead of blue and gold.**

**In any case, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, leave a review!**

**(Especially all those people who follow my story but don't review—I want to hear what you think too!)**


	9. Stage 9: Masquerade

_*****Thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, mcdinh, Republic (four times), Ulrich362, XT3100, northernlion196, Jarjaxle, Matsukaze Tenma, Demons Anarchy of Pride, lifeswordpa, and OBSERVER01, the twelve people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Um… I'm glad you like the changes I've been trying to make! And I'm glad you think I'm a good author! Sadly, I've never heard of Stargate SG1, but your fanfic sounds like it has a really awesome premise!**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Well. I had the entirety of this chapter written… then my muses decided that we **_**could**_ **incorporate the exact opposite of a plot twist that we already had written out without messing up a few that will happen in the future, so I had to scrap an entire scene and rewrite three of the ones in this story. It'll be obvious what I changed if you just read this chapter.**

**Oh yeah, and the ending? Prepare for your first **_**real**_ **glimpse at the tamest form of evil my muses can dish out. (Unless you've read my other stories—then you know what to expect.)**

**Heehee…**

**I don't own Code Geass, but you should totally enjoy this chapter anyways!**

**Stage 9: Masquerade**

"I thought I told you two not to harm Suzaku," Lelouch said, glaring at the two immortals who had proclaimed themselves his accomplices. His Japanese friend was unconscious at their feet, though to the unsuspecting passersby, he appeared to be peacefully asleep.

"B-But I didn't hurt him! I just… hit that one pressure point that knocks people out…" S.S. looked down at her feet, fidgeting uncomfortably under Lelouch's glare. "It's completely painless…"

The black-haired teen snarled, "Yes, but now it will be extremely hard to get his trust. He probably thinks we're no better than terrorists now!"

Z.Z. folded his arms dismissively. With that ever-present smirk on his face, he commented, "You could always just show him your face. Don't you think that would get his trust?"

_Show him my face…?_ Lelouch narrowed his eyes in contemplation. _Seven years ago, perhaps that would be an option. Now, though? He's a soldier of Britannia… a soldier who abhors violence, as paradoxical as that is. My trick with the colored gas could easily be seen as that, along with what Z.Z. and S.S. did to bring him here. Not to mention the fact that I killed Clovis._ "That isn't an option at this time," he said.

Z.Z. chuckled, "Oh, it's always an option. It just depends on how badly you want your friend's loyalty."

Not bad enough to risk exposing his identity to Suzaku, only for his friend to turn on him and bring his rebellion to an abrupt and untimely close. That much Lelouch was certain of. He couldn't know exactly how much Suzaku's ideals had changed, if they had at all. _(And there was that one dream where Suzaku had sold him out to the Emperor in exchange for a position in the Knights of the Round…)_

Suzaku groaned, his eyelids twitching.

He slid the mask of Zero back over his head. "You two, get out of here!" Lelouch hissed at Z.Z. and S.S. "I wish to speak to him alone. _Go bother someone else, if you have to!_"

The blonde man snickered, and made his way out of the ruined building. His sister followed behind, though she kept her gaze on Suzaku until they were out of sight.

* * *

The sound of hushed but angry voices were what Suzaku awoke to. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. His back was sore, like he'd been laying on the ground instead of his bed… Which made sense once he realized he was _not_ in his room, and instead was inside the remains of a building. The ceiling no longer existed, chunks of concrete and plaster littering the ground from when it probably collapsed.

_Oh. Right. The escort to my court martial… Zero… and those two who grabbed me off of the truck. Is this where they've taken me?_

"Hello, Suzaku Kururugi." The masked man—_Clovis' murderer_—stood over him, a hand outstretched as if to offer him help getting on his feet.

Suzaku reluctantly accepted the help—though only to be courteous; he _never_ wanted to touch the hands of a murderer. "Zero."

Zero threw back his cape, so that his arms would no longer be completely hidden underneath it. It also let Suzaku see that the man didn't have a gun or weapon concealed by the cape, too. "First off, let me apologize for the actions my two subordinates took."

_(Suzaku swore he heard someone cry, "We're _accomplices_! Not _subordinates_!")_

The masked man's head shot in the direction of what Suzaku assumed to be the building's exit, and remained silent for a moment. "…As I was saying… I told them not to harm you at all. For whatever reason, they didn't count casting you into the depths of unconsciousness as 'harmful'."

Ordering them not to harm him at all… that was the same thing that happened at Shinjuku, when he had been forced to give up the Lancelot. Why… Why would Zero want him uninjured? Could he really be…?

_No. No, Lelouch _can't _be Zero. Zero had him captive in Shinjuku… and Lelouch wouldn't lie about that! And… And he definitely wouldn't risk getting caught by Britannia. Not if it meant endangering Nunnally._ He refused to acknowledge the hand position that Zero had used when speaking to Jeremiah. One hand position did not equal the masked man's identity. "Why didn't you want me harmed?"

"Because I'd like you to join me, Private Kururugi," Zero replied.

Join a terrorist? Out of the question. "No," Suzaku said immediately. "I would… never join someone like you."

Zero crossed his arms, and his cape re-concealed his body. "And just what is your definition of 'someone like me'?"

"Someone who uses contemptible means to achieve their goals," he replied. "There are no ends that would justify murder, terrorism, kidnapping, putting innocent civilians at risk."

_Suzaku… therein lies your naïvety,_ Zero thought. He laughed. "I see. You denounce my actions, and yet you applaud the actions of the country you serve—actions that are the same as mine, but have no reason?"

The Japanese teenager shook his head. "I don't approve of some of the things that Britannia does, but none of their actions stoop to your level." _Outside of war, that is._

Once again, Zero laughed at him. "You truly are a fool, and a blind one at that. Take what happened in the Shinjuku Ghetto several days ago. Do you know why the Britannian Army was there in the first place?"

"Terrorists had stolen a capsule containing poison gas…" Suzaku frowned slightly; he knew the capsule did not actually contain poison gas, but a green-haired woman. "We had to get it back from them before they could cause mass havoc in the Settlement."

It was Zero's turn to shake his head. "You're wrong, Private Kururugi. That was no anti-terrorism strike. It was a full-fledged massacre." He held out a device—a voice recorder able to store several different recordings at the same time. He pressed the first button on it. "_Why did you order the attack on the Shinjuku Ghetto?"_ Zero's voice asked.

"_The terrorists had taken the capsule C.C. was locked inside. If they found out what she could do, not only would I be disinherited, but they could have a very potent weapon against Britannia. I couldn't risk _anyone _finding out about it,"_ the voice of Prince Clovis responded.

Zero pressed another button. "_Is that all you have to justify the slaughter of the Japanese people? A failed experiment that never should have existed in the first place being stolen?"_

"_They were only Elevens. They're nothing more than the ground we walk upon."_

Suzaku's face flushed as he stared at the voice recorder. The late prince had ordered a genocide… simply because of that stolen capsule? And… and… that woman—_was her name C.C.?_—was the victim of _experiments_ that he conducted?

"As you can see, the country you blindly serve has rotted all the way to its core," Zero announced, sliding the recorder back into his pocket. "With this in mind, will you still refuse to join me?"

* * *

Under the mask of Zero, Lelouch smirked. His friend looked legitimately torn up about the revelation of Clovis' horrendous actions. Unless he decided to cling to his ideals, Lelouch was certain he had convinced Suzaku to join his side… and he hadn't even told him what his true goals were, nor had he been forced to show his face. _Suzaku…_

"I…" Suzaku started to speak, but stopped and shut his mouth. His fists were clenched, eyes shut tight. "I… I accept… on three conditions."

…_Yes! I can work around those conditions—whatever they might be—just as long as Suzaku is on my side. He was one of my sworn enemies in those dreams… I wonder how much can change because of this… _"Well then, what are these conditions?"

"First… you have to swear not to involve innocent civilians anymore. Your stunt with the gas… not to mention kidnapping my friend…" He shook his head. "I just don't want anyone who doesn't deserve it getting hurt."

Lelouch's mouth formed a straight line as his brow furrowed. Sometimes involving civilians was absolutely necessary… He couldn't promise _never_, but he could limit the number. "I cannot guarantee that, but I can try."

The Japanese teenager nodded slowly. "Okay, then my second condition is that you don't kill anyone. It's… like I said before, nothing justifies murder."

_Not even war? You're trying too hard to hold onto your ideals, Suzaku. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the betterment of the world._ That was something he could not promise at all, and he did not wish to lie to Suzaku. Instead, he changed the subject by asking, "What is your third condition?"

"The Lancelot. I want you to return it to Lloyd Asplund."

He had been expecting Suzaku to ask him to take off his mask—something he would have done at that point—or maybe publically apologize for his stunt with the gas, or in lieu of showing his face, explain his motivations. This, though? This was not at _all_ what Lelouch had been expecting. "Return… the Lancelot?"

"It's just…" Suzaku scratched the back of his head a little. "Well, to Lloyd, it's like you kidnapped his child. And… well, there's also the fact that I'm the only person who can pilot the Lancelot, thanks to the program it runs on."

_Tsk._ He didn't want to return the Lancelot, not after all the effort he put into capturing it in the first place. _Especially_ because it would mean giving the Britannians a major advantage. _Unless… Suzaku _is _the only one who can pilot it at the moment. I could use that… I could…_ A confident smile appeared on his face, though Suzaku wouldn't be able to see it. "I understand. In that case, I know exactly what I'll have you do for me."

"Wait, you'd actually—" Suzaku forced the surprise off of his face, as though he hadn't expected Zero to comply to his demands. "What do you want me to do?"

"How good are you at putting on a charade?"

* * *

Kallen wasn't sure how to feel about Zero or his two "accomplices". On one hand, they were able to stage an escape from a _military convoy_ of all things with little more than a few bluffs and whatever the hell they did to make that Pureblood attack her own allies. All Kallen had to do was drive a truck, and all Ohgi had to do was set up a net to catch them during their escape. Then there was what Zero managed to pull off in Shinjuku—he not only helped them fight off the Britannians _and_ capture their experimental seventh-gen Knightmare Frame, but somehow managed to sneak aboard the G-1 and kill the Viceroy. Lastly, she could easily agree with his goal of world peace. An end to all the fighting…

On the other hand, she had no idea who Zero was, and his two accomplices were clearly Britannian. For all she knew, he could be using their group to serve some ulterior motive of his. The trick he pulled with the Pureblood could have been a set-up. Hell, his goal of world peace could even have been a lie.

The redhead held up the note Zero had used to summon her to Tokyo Tower, turning it over in her hands. If Zero really _was_ a student at her school, who could it be? Someone else who was half-Japanese? And if not… how could a full-blooded Brit want to fight against his own country?

Her head snapped up when she heard footsteps and the gasps of several of her friends. Zero was back… and he seemed a lot happier than he had been before. "Kallen Kozuki. Kaname Ohgi. I'd like to speak with you in private."

"H-Huh?" _What does he want with the two of us?_ Kallen thought.

"Me…?" Ohgi stared incredulously at the masked man.

"The two of you trusted me despite not knowing my face, and knowing that my self-proclaimed accomplices are both Britannian. Therefore, I will reward you with my own trust—but you must come with me, first."

_His own trust? It has to be… his real identity, right?_ Kallen nodded to Ohgi, who was looking at her indecisively. "Fine, we're coming," she told Zero.

The masked man led the two out of their hideout, into an abandoned building nearby. When Zero stopped, so did they. He turned around to face them, holding a hand over his mask. "Kallen, Ohgi, your reward for trusting me is that you get to see my face… but first, allow me to tell you a story."

_Damn… I really don't want to hear a story, but if it means getting to find out who the hell this guy is…_

"Once upon a time, there were two children born into the royal family of the Holy Britannian Empire. Their names were Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia," Zero began, his arms folded beneath his cape.

_Those names… I've heard them before… vi Britannia…_ But Kallen couldn't place it.

"Their mother, Marianne, was the Fifth Imperial Consort, though it was clear to the others that she was the Emperor's favorite. This, of course, appalled them, as Marianne was a commoner by birth and had only found favor in the Emperor's eyes due to her status as a Knight of the Round."

Kallen frowned; just what sort of story was this? A history lesson? She _despised_ history lessons. Especially when it came to how greedy the Britannians were…

"One day, Marianne woke her children up early for breakfast. Nunnally, always a bundle of energy, was easily awoken. Her older brother Lelouch took a bit more time to do so." After this, Zero paused for a moment. It was almost like he was trying to keep himself composed. "Consequently, Lady Marianne and Nunnally were farther down the staircase that led to the dining hall than Lelouch. And that was when… That was when bullets ripped through the windows, killing two guards almost immediately. Lady Marianne… was able to react in time to shield her daughter from the same fate, though she herself was not as lucky." Another pause, and Kallen could actually see Zero's hands trembling. "Lady Marianne was killed on those steps, and the daughter she wished to save suffered almost as horribly. She had still been hit during the gunfire, one bullet severing her spinal cord, and the traumatic experience caused her to go blind. And all the prince could do was watch it all happen…"

_How exactly is this story necessary?! All he's telling us is stuff about the royals. Doesn't he know we don't give a crap about them?_

"Even to a fool, it was obvious that the attack was an inside job," Zero continued. "But what did Emperor Charles do? He called off the investigation, saying that it was the work of terrorists and they should be done with it. No one dared to contradict their ruler; none save Prince Lelouch, the boy who had to bury his own mother, and now had to care for a blind and crippled younger sister. His reward? For Charles zi Britannia to declare him along with his sister as useless aside from bargaining tools, and ship them off to Japan."

"Oh! _That's_ why those names were familiar!" Ohgi suddenly exclaimed. "I remember… those two were sent to stay with Genbu Kururugi, and were supposedly killed shortly before the invasion."

Kallen almost smacked herself in the forehead—of _course_!

"Yes, and their deaths were what the Empire used to justify the war. But… what if I told you that was a lie?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Kallen said. "Britannia isn't exactly known for its honesty."

Zero chuckled. "Then, it won't come as too much a shock to you when I say that I…" He reached up, grabbing his mask. The back part of it retracted into the front, allowing him to remove it like one would remove a normal mask. "…am Lelouch vi Britannia, the prince abandoned by his country and father."

Kallen gasped when she saw his face—the dark amethyst eyes and black hair that framed his face. He was… He was…! "You—you're that guy who collapsed in class the day I went back to Ashford! But… why… how…?"

"For the past seven years, I've been in hiding with my sister Nunnally," Lelouch said. "The country that abandoned the two of us… must be destroyed. In all that time, I have been planning about how to do it. I never would have expected to have the chance to set my plans into motion this early…" He smirked slightly. "I suppose I have you to thank, stealing the 'poison gas' capsule. If you hadn't crashed that truck while trying to avoid that motorcycle, I never would have tried to help, and I never would have been pulled into your fight."

_And now he's saying he was on that damn motorcycle? Can this day get any crazier?!_

"Hey, speaking of that capsule… what was originally inside of it?" Ohgi asked. "It was empty when we made it there."

"It was a girl," Lelouch replied. "A girl with the power to bestow a very unique gift upon those who formed a contract with her."

"What are you talking about…?" Kallen asked.

_Here goes nothing,_ Lelouch thought as he narrowed his eyes. _I'm risking everything by telling them about…_ "I don't suppose you've ever heard about a power called Geass, have you?"

* * *

She watched the exchange from the shadows. Of Suzaku, under orders by Zero to continue to serve in the military as a spy, returning the Lancelot to the man who created it. _Lloyd Asplund_… his charisma reminded her of something, but she wasn't sure what.

Though, it was nothing compared to what she felt when looking at Suzaku Kururugi. All the time spent watching him from C's World did nothing to ease her déjà vu; in fact, meeting him in person made it come back full-force. She was _certain_ that she knew him… _certain_ that she had met him in person before… _certain_ that she had held his hand… but she was also _certain_ that it couldn't be possible. This incarnation of Suzaku _had_ to be the first one she ever met…

_Then why does he make me feel like this…?_

S.S. slunk further into the shadows when Suzaku started walking away from the Earl and his violet-haired assistant. She only wanted to talk to Suzaku… no one else could be allowed to see her. If someone did, then… she wasn't sure what Z.Z. would do to them.

_Oh, what luck!_ She smiled when she saw that Suzaku was coming in her direction. She was right in assuming that he would still want to go to his court martial—and he'd have to pass by where she was hidden to get there. _Now I can…_ S.S. stepped out of the shadows, her palms outstretched. He might be Zero's secret ally now, but she didn't want to take the chance of him trying to "disarm" her or something.

The brown-haired teenager stopped, staring at her in surprise. "You… You're the girl who knocked me out."

She looked down as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. "I-I'm sorry about that… I'm really not that good with people." _Not unless they're Big Brother…_ "That's… why I followed you. I wanted to apologize in person."

"You followed me…?"

S.S. realized how bad that sounded right after the words left her mouth. She held up her hands again as the red in her cheeks vanished completely. "I-I didn't… I didn't mean it like that! I'm not a stalker! I swear!"

"I didn't say you were," Suzaku said. "You just surprised me. That's all."

"Oh… good…" the blonde-haired woman sighed. "I'm… really sorry, Suzaku."

"It's fine… um… what's your name?"

"It's S—AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

It felt like someone just took a chainsaw to her brain. She grabbed at it, squeezing her eyes shut, and fell to her knees. All she could focus on was the sound of her own screams… her own screams mixed in with the anguished cries of someone else—she couldn't tell who they belonged to—and the pain…

A voice cut through, distorted, like a vague memory from one's childhood. And two faces—the faces of Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia.

"…_first time… seen… face. The… brother… murderer!"_

"_You've… demon, Lelouch! How can… so cruel…?"_

"_Yo… everything y… until now… love you!"_

"_It's unfair… happy… with you…"_

Just as soon as it started, the pain vanished. She gasped as her eyes snapped open, her shoulders sagging in relief from the pain. She never wanted to feel that again… never… Wait… Th-This was just like what happened to Z.Z. a few days ago! When he collapsed in that small store… screamed and grabbed at his head…

"Hey… Hey… are you alright…?"

She felt hands gently grabbing her shoulders, and realized that Suzaku was looking at her in concern. She slid out from his grip, smiling softly. "I-I'm fine. I need… to go see my brother now. See you… some other time, Suzaku!"

* * *

_That went over very well,_ Lelouch thought, reminiscing over what happened just an hour before. Kallen and Ohgi hadn't flipped out, they hadn't tried to kill him, all they'd done was ask a ton of questions and avoided eye contact. Understandable, of course. _And Suzaku is now my informant… Thanks to that, I can see what repercussions my actions have now, and he will be the ace in the hole should I accidentally back myself into a corner trying to fight my own country._

He was back at Ashford. He really had no idea how late it was, but hoped that Sayoko had put Nunnally to bed. She really didn't have to stay up waiting for him to come home from his exploits.

"Lelooooooouch!" Rival's voice pierced the otherwise quiet night. The purple-haired teenager ran across the courtyard, and in the light granted by the streetlight, Lelouch could see the fear in his friend's eyes. "Lelouch, there you are! We've been trying to get a hold of you for like half an hour!"

"My phone was off…" Lelouch said, looking back with curiosity. He wasn't sure what his friend had to be scared about. "Did something happen?"

"Oh, it's _horrible_! I don't know all the details, but apparently they had to rush her to the hospital—"

"_Her"…? No, it couldn't be_— "Who was taken to the hospital?"

"—'cause she just stopped breathing and—"

"Dammit Rivalz, _who was it?!_"

"Nunnally…"

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: …I really have nothing to defend myself with…**

**Instead, I can assure you that there will be a time in the future where Lelouch has a private conversation with Kallen about… well, everything he told her and Ohgi. And I really didn't want him to tell Ohgi, but it had to be done because he and Kallen **_**both**_ **helped with the Orange Incident…**

**And then there's S.S. and Suzaku…**

…**I really can't defend myself…**

**Please, leave a review! **


	10. Stage 10: Suspicions and Wishes

_*****Thanks to Demons Anarchy of Pride, Ulrich362, BlackTyrantValvatorez, Republic (nineteen times), mcdinh, MrtheratedG, XT3100, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Jarjaxle, OBSERVER01, Aryan810101, and lifeswordpa, the twelve people who reviewed the last chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Y-You're going to recommend my story to other people? Goodness… I don't know how to thank you enough. (If only you had a legitimate account…) I'm very honored that you think my story is good enough for that.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: So… aside from one major flip out and another person threatening to stop reading this story, I didn't get nearly as many "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU NOW!" reactions as I expected. Eh, fair enough. (I'm sure I'll get enough of those when I get to a certain incident…)**

**I'm sure you're all dying to know what happened, so I'm gonna stop rambling for now. I don't own Code Geass, though!**

**Stage 10: Suspicions and Wishes**

The hospital's waiting room was packed that night—something about a horrible wreck involving six cars and a few pedestrians—the fear, worry, and grief of the friends and family members of those involved in the crash filling the room. But there was one group of high schoolers from the prestigious Ashford Academy that no one wanted to go near.

In particular, they all steered clear from the black-haired, violet-eyed teenaged male. Unlike his friends—the orange-haired girl so distraught she couldn't speak, the blonde young woman silently trying to comfort her, and the purple-haired guy rubbing his hands together nervously as he fidgeted in the uncomfortable plastic chair—he paced back and forth with a look on his face that could only be described as terrifying. The cold, calculating look in his eyes combined with worry… It was as though he was plotting out how to kill whoever sent his loved one to the hospital.

And, in truth, that was exactly what Lelouch was doing. Nunnally had been the picture of health just that morning. Also, from what he was able to gather from Shirley's frantic speech—"_Sh-She w-was showing m-me how to f-fold pa-paper cranes… th-then it w-was l-like what ha-happened to y-you except sh-she stopped b-breathing"_—it was a heart attack.

A _heart attack_.

Meaning Z.Z. and S.S. _had_ to be involved in this in some way.

He would kill them. He would find a way to get rid of their Codes, and he would kill them. He had made it _very clear_ that they were to leave Nunnally alone. Z.Z. had lied when he said no harm would come to either of them as long as he stayed as Zero—he'd only just _started_, for heaven's sake. This… whatever they did to make her have a heart attack…

_But she'll be okay. I was fine after _my _dream. There's no reason for this to be any different. Nunnally will be _fine…_!_

A doctor had stepped into the waiting room, a clipboard in their hands. "Family of Nunnally Lamperouge?"

* * *

Acute heart failure as a result of a heart attack, the cause of which unknown. _(Unknown to the doctors, at least.)_ That was the bad news. His sister would recover, given time to rest. That was the good news. Not that it mattered to Lelouch—he knew Nunnally was never going to die. He already knew she would be fine.

But seeing her in the hospital bed, pale as a ghost and unmoving, brought some of his worst memories back to the surface. _("Big Brother, why are the lights off? I can't see you…")_ A lump formed in the back of his throat as he picked up his sister's hand and held it tightly. _Nunnally… I swear, this will not go unpunished._

He was alone with his sister; the doctors had restricted Nunnally's visitors only to immediate family members. He was secretly glad because his friends would not see the horrendous faces he was making. He did _not_ need Milly snapping a photo of him in this state and using it against him.

A tiny sniffle echoed above the sound of the heart monitor, and Lelouch's eyes widened slightly. His sister's face was wet, two tear tracks running out of the corners of each eye. Her forehead was scrunched up in pain and fear, and a tiny moan escaped her lips.

"Nunnally!" He squeezed her hand tighter, lifting it up instead of having it rest on his lap. He _hated_ seeing her in pain, and _despised_ it when the pain was caused by the demon called a nightmare. "Nunnally, it's alright! Everything is alright…"

"B-Big Brother…?" the sandy-haired girl whimpered.

"I'm here, Nunnally." _I'll always be here for you. Always._

She sniffed, and pushed herself up into a seated position… then pulled him closer with the arm he had in a death grip, and threw her arms around him. Lelouch blinked in surprise—the hug was tighter than the one Shirley had given him when he first woke up in the nurse's office—and quickly returned it. Though she held him so tightly, so firmly, he still felt her entire form tremble with every sob. He stroked the back of her head, whispering into her ear that everything would be fine.

_Nunnally… just what sort of nightmare did you have…? I wonder… did you see the Zero Requiem, just as I did? Or did you see something just as horrifying…?_

He had no idea how long it took for her to stop crying, but at some point her shaking stopped, and he was able to dry off his dear sister's face. Lelouch gently laid his sister back down, grabbing her hand once again. "Nunnally… what's made you so upset?"

"I… I had a horrible dream," she replied. "You… You'd… become a demon… and took over the world… b-but it was all an act, and then you were killed by Zero, and I was left all alone!"

_Zero Requiem, then._ He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It's just a nightmare, Nunnally. There's no need to be afraid of it."

A little of the worry left her face, but she was still frowning slightly. "Just… a nightmare… l-like yours, Big Brother?"

It was Lelouch's turn to frown as he narrowed his eyes. He had no idea how to answer that question without part of it being a lie, and he could _not_ lie to Nunnally… but he could _not_ get her involved in this mess any more than she already was. "It would seem so," he said. "But nightmares are simply dreams; they have no bearing on real life. I would never leave you all alone, Nunnally. You mean too much to me…"

"Then, can I change my wish from before?"

"Of course."

"I… I don't care if the world was more horrible than it is now, I just want to be with you, Lelouch." She smiled faintly, and squeezed his hand back.

He mimicked her smile, well aware of the fact that she would not see it. "I still plan to uphold that promise, to make the world a gentler place. To create a world where we can live happily, without fear."

"I'd… like that…"

* * *

Suzaku walked down the street, almost in a daze. He still couldn't wrap his head around what had happened just last night. That the courts had found him innocent in the murder of Prince Clovis—the lack of evidence coupled with Zero's proclamation. That he had actually agreed to _help_ Zero achieve his goals—he still wasn't sure how he would be able to pull off being his spy. And that strange woman who collapsed in the street before running off to go find her brother—he _still_ didn't know her name.

It was mostly the second one that really confused him. He didn't want to help Zero, but he couldn't approve of Britannia's actions, either. It was like choosing the lesser of two evils…

"Out of the way, please! Look out below!"

Suzaku looked around, trying to find out where that voice was coming from. He gasped when he looked up and saw a _person_ falling from the sky. Really, all he could see was pink—their hair, he assumed—but still reached out to catch the falling woman. "Uh… are you alright?" he asked.

The pink-haired woman looked up at Suzaku with her lavender eyes. _(Lavender? He felt like that was important…)_ "Sorry… I wasn't aware you were down here until I had leaped…" she replied.

"It's fine," Suzaku said. "I mean… if I hadn't been here to catch you, you could have been seriously hurt." He paused for a moment, cocking his head to the side. "Why _did_ you jump out of that window?"

"Oh… uh…" The girl looked away from him for a moment, but then looked back with a far too cheerful look on her face as she said, "The truth is, bad guys are chasing me… So, could you help me, please?"

He would never turn down a request for help, even if he was certain there was no one after her.

* * *

_Euphy_, she said her name was. _Euphy._ He felt like he should know that name, and yet… the woman in front of him didn't look familiar at all. Then again, he wasn't even sure that "Euphy" was her real name. She had paused before telling him her name, much like she had when telling him why she'd jumped out a window.

Suzaku didn't need to introduce himself—Euphy already knew who he was, thanks to his very public arrest.

The more time he spent with Euphy, the more awkward Suzaku felt. He knew she was lying, but everytime he tried asking about it, she'd change the subject. He felt like he should know her from somewhere, but didn't.

It was when she stopped to help a cat with an injured paw that he was _finally_ able to place his suspicions.

The way she cared for it—she _meowed_ at the cat, of all things—when all the other Britannians paid no attention to the animal. The way she held the cat—_Arthur_, Euphy declared—like a mother would hold their newborn child. Euphy seemed so gentle… she reminded Suzaku of Nunnally. This, in turn, brought back a memory of when he, Lelouch, and Nunnally had stumbled across a fallen bird's nest while adventuring in the forest.

_There had been a baby bird still in the nest, one of its wings broken. Its shrill cries had caught the attention of Nunnally, who instantly demanded that they helped the bird. Lelouch immediately gave in, not wanting to upset his little sister. Suzaku had been skeptical of the whole thing—why would anyone want to take care of an injured baby bird?_

_And one day, when Nunnally was caring for the animal, Lelouch was watching from afar. There had been a smile on his face, and Suzaku thought it was strange._

"_What are you smiling about, Lelouch?"_

"_Happy memories," his friend had replied. "Nunnally… she just reminded me of one of my other sisters."_

"_Oh?" That was strange to Suzaku as well, because Lelouch talked about his family less than he smiled. "Which one?"_

"_Her name was Euphy… Well, Euphemia." He chuckled a little. "I think you'd like her, Suzaku. She's a lot like Nunnally, only closer to our age and has light-pink hair. Yes… she was definitely my favorite half-sibling, no matter how much trouble she caused me…"_

Suzaku gasped as he stared at the pink-haired girl. How had he been so _stupid_? Lelouch and Nunnally had talked so much about Euphy… how could he not have placed her name already?

"Is something wrong, Suzaku?"

"Euphy… you… you're…" He swallowed. "You're… a Britannian princess, aren't you?"

* * *

"Oh my…" Euphemia looked away, shocked and sad. She hadn't been expecting anyone to recognize her, not before her first public appearance. _Especially_ not someone who wasn't Britannian. And _especially_ not the son of the man who had killed her brother and sister. "Yes… I don't know how you know, but you're right. I'm… Euphemia li Britannia, the Third Princess of Britannia…"

Suzaku knelt down in front of her, bowing—something she hated; she wanted _someone_ who would treat her like a normal person and not a princess, and had thought that Suzaku would be able to do that. But then he looked up, a slight smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Euphy."

…_He isn't going to call me "Princess" or "Your Majesty"? Not even "Euphemia" instead of my nickname? Maybe… Maybe I was wrong to think he'd automatically turn into a royalty-worshipper._ She smiled back at him, if only for a moment. "Yes… it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Suzaku. Um… if you don't mind…" How would she word this…? "How did you know I was a princess? I haven't made a public appearance yet… and you're not… You're Japanese…"

The brown-haired teen in front of her chewed on his lower lip as his hands twitched. It was like he was debating on whether or not to answer her question. "Well… the truth is… Lelouch and Nunnally told me a lot about you. B-Before the Second Pacific War, of course."

He knew her precious siblings? Wait, of _course_ he would—they had stayed with his family when they were sent to Japan. It… was only reasonable that they would have talked with Suzaku. Still… "They… talked about me?"

Suzaku nodded slowly. "They always said you were their favorite half-sibling."

She realized that her throat was throbbing, and that her eyes had started to water. Even though it had been seven years, her grief hadn't fully subsided. Lelouch and Nunnally… they had been _her_ favorite half-siblings as well. "I… see. Ah… Suzaku, could you tell me more about them? The Lelouch and Nunnally that you knew?" She pursed her lips before deciding to add, "In exchange, I'll do something for you—anything that's within my power!"

* * *

They spent hours, just walking around the Settlement and sharing stories about the vi Britannia siblings. Suzaku spoke of hating the two at first, but slowly growing to be friends. Of adventuring through the woods around the Kururugi Shrine, of how overprotective Lelouch could be of his little sister, and of how kind Nunnally always was, despite her disabilities. Euphy spoke of the adventures they went on throughout the palace and the gardens. Of how silly Lelouch looked when he tried to remain serious after being forced to play dress-up with his two sisters, and of all the other embarrassing stories she could come up with.

_(Suzaku had to admit that the one about Nunnally and Lelouch arguing over a plate, of all things, was probably one of the most hilarious. Mostly because Nunnally had managed to pull it away from her _older _brother.)_

He was… carefree, for once. He hadn't been able to be so relaxed since… his father's death, really. There was something about the way Euphy talked that made him forget about anything that would cause him to worry. He didn't want this to end…

…but he knew it had when he caught a flash of yellow in the edge of his vision dart behind a building. Suzaku didn't immediately stare at the spot, but when he did, he saw half of someone's face—that _someone_ being the mysterious woman who "wasn't a stalker"… He locked gazes with her, seeing her blue eye light up with astonishment before defeat, and she had to step out from the shadows.

"You again… I thought you said you _weren't_ my stalker," Suzaku said once the blonde-haired woman walked over, her head sagging.

She immediately looked up in alarm, shaking her head fervently. "Th-That's right! I'm not! I just… remembered that I never gave you my name… and I had a question for Euphy as well…"

"Huh? Me?" Euphy asked. "But I've never seen you before… Suzaku, who is she?"

Suzaku opened his mouth to respond, but he really couldn't. It was a vivid reminder that he should _not_ be at Euphy's side, since he was a double agent serving _for_ Zero and _against_ Britannia. Against _her_.

"I'm S.S.," the blonde responded, sticking out a hand for the princess to shake. "I… I'm sorry, I can't say how I know you—my big brother said not to, so I won't."

_She's really devoted to her brother,_ Suzaku thought. _She had instantly wanted to go to him after receiving that headache… and needing his permission to say certain things… Though, I could have sworn that _she _was the older of the two._ Her loyalty was admirable, but he wondered if it had limits—like if her brother did something _despicable_.

S.S.—_what a strange name_—clapped her hands together suddenly, a bright smile on her face. "Anyways, enough about that! Euphy… Princess Euphemia, I have to know: if you had one wish that could come true no matter what, what would it be?"

"Huh…? I… I don't…" the lavender-eyed woman looked down as she trailed off. She remained silent as she contemplated her answer. "I… I have two, and I really don't know which one I want more."

"That's fine! Share both of them!"

"I wish… that I could have my siblings back. Lelouch and Nunnally… and Clovis, too! I miss them all dearly…"

It took every fiber of his being for Suzaku to not reveal that Lelouch and Nunnally were alive… and to not start beating himself up again over failing to save Clovis.

"But also… I wish that people didn't have to keep dying for what they believed in. I guess… I wish that we didn't have to keep fighting wars. That… that everyone could just get along peacefully."

_Lelouch was right. Euphy really _was _just like Nunnally, albeit older and not disabled. She doesn't want people to fight…_

"But… those are silly wishes. The dead can't come back to life, and as long as my country remains the way it is now, wars will keep happening," Euphy finished. "Why do you ask?"

"I… can't say!" S.S. replied, cheery as ever. "What about you, Suzaku? What's your greatest wish?"

He blinked, caught off-guard. _My greatest wish…? I-I don't…_ "I… maybe… for all the bloodshed and violence in the world to stop. I… wish that people didn't have to keep losing their loved ones for stupid and selfish reasons." _(I will _not _think about my father…!)_

"I thought so!" S.S. exclaimed. "Thanks for answering my questions! I have to go now, so… See you around!" She paused for a moment, her gaze lingering on Euphy for a moment, her face unreadable. She shook her head a little, and took off before either of them could try to stop her.

_Well… I know her name now, but that doesn't help me at all. It's probably not her real name, anyways. And not only that, just why was she asking us those questions? Our greatest wishes… just why does she care so much about them? She's one of Zero's allies, too. Was she trying to test my loyalty…? No, that can't be it—she asked Euphy the question _first…

"That was… strange…" Euphy muttered.

"Tell me about it," he replied. "That woman is… I really don't know."

"Crazy?"

"Yeah… that's one word for it."

"Mhmm. Oh yeah… I promised you something in return for all the stories, didn't I?" Euphy asked. "I just remembered that…"

_Same here_, but he wouldn't say that. "Would… it be within your power to send me to Ashford Academy?"

"Of course!" she replied with a smile. "It'll take a little, but I can definitely pull some strings. I _am_ set to become the new Sub-Viceroy of Area 11, after all!"

* * *

It was a week after Zero's debut, and Lelouch was getting slightly antsy. He had yet to find Z.Z. or S.S., and C.C. had offered no assistance in the matter (not even after he bought her two dozen pizzas). Nunnally had to remain in the hospital due to the severity of her heart attack, and he hadn't been allowed to continue skipping school until she was out of it. That in itself had another reason to worry him—the longer she was in the hospital and not under his supervision, the more likely it was that someone would realize she was the supposedly dead princess. And now another troublesome thing happened: Suzaku was here at school.

Yes, he had been expecting his friend to come here. Something about Euphy pulling strings, if he remembered correctly from his nightmares. But he still had no intention of telling Suzaku that he was Zero, and now he had one more issue to juggle—not dropping hints about his alter ego.

It was despicable, the way his fellow classmates treated Suzaku. They all hated his lineage—and some of them still believed that Suzaku was Prince Clovis' _real_ murderer. Even Shirley and Rivalz participated in the discrimination, though the former at least _wanted_ to talk to Suzaku…

_I never cared about my reputation, anyways._ Lelouch stood up, and walked right over to his friend's side. He had to treat him like a stranger, though… "Lelouch Lamperouge," he said, offering a hand. "It's a pleasure to have you here at Ashford, Suzaku."

"Uh… thank you. It's… an honor to be here," Suzaku replied.

Still keeping eye contact with his friend, Lelouch pinched and tugged at his collar. Noting Suzaku's slight gasp, he knew that he remembered what it meant. _Good… I need to have a proper conversation with you…_

* * *

After class, he asked one of his classmates—he thought her name was Shirley—how to get to the roof. She'd gladly given him the answer, and hadn't asked why he needed it. For that, Suzaku was grateful.

Lelouch was already there, leaning over the railing. To think that the last time they'd met, he had tried to kick his head in… "Ah, Suzaku. It's been seven years since I've used that signal… I'm glad you remembered it," Lelouch said.

_(It's because I saw Zero use the same hand motion…)_ "And I'm glad to see you in one piece, Lelouch. Getting kidnapped by terrorists isn't something people usually walk away from unscathed."

"They don't usually walk away from taking a bullet, either," Lelouch returned. "You're the same idiot as always."

"Hey, I couldn't let the royal guard hurt you or that green-haired woman… Speaking of, do you know where she is?"

"No," Lelouch replied, "we were separated when the terrorists captured me. I think she got away…"

He didn't want to ask too many questions, but he was too curious. "Could you tell me anything about Zero?"

His friend shook his head. "Sadly, I never met him face to face, only his Japanese allies. All they did was keep me in a room until they just let me run free. They didn't even talk to me at all. The whole event was strange… You'd think those terrorists would have no qualms with torturing or killing a Britannian."

_Then how did Zero and his allies know that you're a prince?_ Suzaku narrowed his eyes. The facts just weren't lining up.

"In any case, why don't you tell me a little more about what happened to you? Like… what happened after Zero freed you from your military escort? I know you haven't been telling anyone about it, but…"

"Sorry… top-secret information," Suzaku replied.

"Ah… it was worth a shot. What about how you ended up coming to Ashford Academy? This place is hard enough for pure blooded Britannians to get into, and you're… well… _not_."

Suzaku smiled as he thought of Euphy. "I met your sister Euphy last week, and she ended up owing me a favor."

He could have sworn he saw Lelouch shoot him a death glare while muttering his sister's nickname, but if his friend was angry, he couldn't tell. At least, not until Lelouch's face suddenly paled, eyes flaring up in anger as he looked at something past Suzaku. "Z.Z…" The hatred was obvious in Lelouch's voice.

Suzaku turned around, and he gasped. It was… S.S.'s brother, with that same arrogant smirk on his face as he had the other time they'd met. _Lelouch knows him, though…?_ "H-Hey, you're… S.S.'s brother, aren't you?"

"Quite so," the man replied. "And on that note…" The smirk vanished from his face as he shot Suzaku a death glare. "Stay away from my sister or you'll regret ever existing."

"O-Okay…" A shiver ran up Suzaku's spine. This man did _not_ look like one to mess with… even if he looked remarkably like the late Prince Clovis.

"Goodie! Now that we have that out of the way, I need to speak to Lelouch alone. So, Suzaku, please leave at once!"

He opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it, told Lelouch goodbye, and headed to the stairs. He could have _sworn_ he heard S.S.'s brother shout, "Toodles!" after him.

_That man… does _not _seem mentally stable. Leaving Lelouch alone with him doesn't feel right… Actually, why _did _he want to speak with Lelouch in the first place…? Was Lelouch really—no, that's _not _true. Lelouch wouldn't be Zero._

* * *

Elsewhere, three men occupied an expansive yet darkened room. The first stood atop a short flight of stairs, condescending towards the second man. The second was sprawled out over his stomach, having been tossed out of his wheelchair by the third man, a guard who was supposed to take the crippled man where he was needed.

The crippled man, propped up by his own arms, looked frantically at the man atop the stairs. "P-Please, Father! Don't do this!"

"You're dead, boy. Dead to me, and dead to the world. You're also crippled—making you as useless as garbage. Therefore, you will live out the rest of your life the way you deserve: as a crippled and impoverished Eleven…"

"Please! Haven't I suffered enough already?!"

"…and you will live like that, _alone_, until your death."

The cripple let out one last shout of, "Have mercy—" before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed.

"Hmph. Why should I show mercy to you? My son… the liar."

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: Ominous ending is ominous, of course. …Though I suppose it could be pretty obvious who the two people with speaking roles in it are. Either way, that'll be fun to mess around with in the future.**

**Also, for changing a lot of the Euphy and Suzaku interaction from canon despite Suzaku not knowing anything about the "other worlds"… Well, Z.Z. said SOME things are inherently different between the worlds, not to mention the fact that Suzaku had a lot more on his mind here than in canon. I'm calling creative liberties on this. (Actually this whole part was really weird since I'm used to spelling her nickname as "Euphie", but apparently "Euphy" is the official spelling… ****…I think I like it better with a "y", actually. Don't mind me.)**

**S.S. and Z.Z. are so fun to write, though. S.S. because awkward spontaneousness, and Z.Z. because insanity. **_**Seriously**_**.**

**In any case, please review!**


	11. Stage 11: Mask Thief

_*****Thanks to Demons Anarchy of Pride, BlackTyrantValvatores, mcdinh, 1000 Sakura/1000 Cherry Blossoms, Ulrich362, MrtheratedG, OBSERVER01, Republic (nine times), Matsukaze Tenma, and Jarjaxle, the ten people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Hm. You seem to have put a great deal of effort into coming up with your alternate history… and… w-wait, this is your favorite story? Am I reading that one review right? I'm… I'm so very honored you think it's that good.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Ah… aha… haha… Oh my goodness do I love reading you guys' reactions to chapters where I through a bomb at you right at the end. Especially when I think about **_**why**_ **I included that scene, and you guys seem to have not picked up on the massive hints dropped in it. (Actually, the same could be said for the scene with S.S…) ****I also can't help but laugh at the fact that you don't seem to realize that I left out a few scenes that happened in the anime (namely everything that happened in Shinjuku in episode 5).**

**Oh well, more fun for me.**

…**I do apologize ahead of time if Kallen and/or Suzaku seem OOC in this chapter. It's a bit more difficult than it was originally for me to write their characters now that the former knows who Zero really is **_**and**_ **about his Geass, and the latter is supposed to be one of Zero's allies. Kallen in particular is harder…**

**I don't own Code Geass or its characters, but I hope you still enjoy this chapter!**

**Stage 11: Mask Thief**

As soon as Lelouch was certain Suzaku was gone, he shot the best glare he could muster at Z.Z. He had gone _over the line_ by endangering Nunnally's life. And the fact that all Z.Z. did was yawn in return made him _that_ much angrier. "You think this is funny?! My sister is _in the hospital_ because she had a _heart attack_, and it's _your fault_!"

"Technically that's my sister's fault," Z.Z. replied impassively. "_Your_ near-heart attack was mine. Technicalities, though. So by all means, go ahead and blame me. That's all anyone cares about when something goes wrong; who to blame, who to suffer the consequences. I've watched countless worlds go by, and lived through six of them. It's always the same…"

_I was right. This isn't the first time _he's _come to one of these worlds… but it _is _S.S.'s first time. Is this why he handles things so nonchalantly?_ That was still no excuse for his actions. "The nightmare I had that was _your_ fault, and the nightmare my sister had that was _your_ sister's fault… what makes them different?"

"Three things. One, we sure as hell aren't in C's World, so I have _literally no idea_ where those memories could be coming from. Two, the fact that Nunnally received one from S.S.—that just shouldn't be possible, but then again, neither should the one you received. And three, the fact that either S.S. or I receive _the most painful headache in all eternity_ along with snippets of someone talking when Nunnally or you, respectively, receive one of these fragmented nightmares. Don't bother asking—I have no idea what triggers our headaches."

Lelouch gave an exasperated sigh, turning from Z.Z. and thinking it over. It made perfect sense, but he really did wish that Z.Z. and his sister would have more control over the situation than they already had. At least Nunnally was okay… but it was unforgivable for endangering her in the first place—accident or no. "You better work on finding out why this happened, then."

"But of course! That headache was _painful_!" Z.Z. exclaimed with a grimace on his face. Upon realizing Lelouch was still glaring at him, he grudgingly added, "…And I don't want you or Nunnally dying before you're supposed to."

_Oh, and you just _happen _to know when we're _supposed _to die. Right…_ Lelouch thought sarcastically. He scoffed, "Just don't let it happen again. Also, the next time you need to speak to me, wait until I'm actually _alone_. Suzaku knows who you are, and I have a feeling he already suspects who Zero is. I don't need him figuring out that I _am_ Zero before I want him to."

The blonde shrugged dismissively. "Eh. Waiting is _boring_. Besides, it's not like Suzaku won't go along with a lie you tell him. For one thing, he trusts you. For another, he definitely doesn't want anyone to know about his loyalty to Zero."

"Waiting a few hours won't kill you," Lelouch said dryly. _But he does make a point. Suzaku _will _go along with whatever lie I tell him… The question is, what will that lie be?_

Z.Z. laughed as he slapped him on the back. "Ah… good one, Lelouch." He paused for a moment, his face going entirely serious. "Though you _should_ be careful about what you joke about. They might have… disastrous consequences."

He wasn't even going to try asking what Z.Z. meant by that. He knew he wouldn't get a straight answer. He scowled, and it looked like he would keep scowling for as long as Z.Z. was there. That was when Lelouch saw a cat with dark purple fur, a bandage wrapped around its front left leg, perched on the balcony away from the two. His entire world froze—that cat… it somehow had his Zero mask on his head. At that moment, he didn't care how the creature got it, he simply _had_ to get his mask back.

The cat leapt to another part of the roof—a part that Lelouch wouldn't be able to get to from where he was.

_Dammit… I can't let that cat get away!_ Lelouch darted to the staircase.

Z.Z. sighed to himself, "Looks like Arthur has shown up a little earlier than usual. …Fine, I'll help him. If anyone else finds Zero's mask, well, that just makes my job a thousand times more difficult. Isn't that right?" He didn't see anyone in the courtyard below the balcony, so he opted for a much faster way of getting down—jumping. It wasn't like that would kill him…

* * *

No one could say that Suzaku had been eavesdropping on Lelouch and that accomplice of Zero's, because he _hadn't_ been. He didn't hear any of what they were saying, except for an exclamation of "…attack… your fault!" from Lelouch, and one of "…painful!" from Z.Z. All Suzaku was doing was watching the two from the stairs, just to make sure Z.Z. wouldn't harm Lelouch. Suzaku _couldn't_ let anyone hurt Lelouch—he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he had. _(Then again…)_

He heard Lelouch shout—not in pain but in surprise mixed with fear. Immediately after, the black-haired teen ran for the staircase…

_I can't let him think I was eavesdropping!_ Suzaku scrambled down the steps, then turned around and started heading up them—he could always say he heard Lelouch shout if he asked.

Lelouch was wide-eyed with fear and panting when he nearly ran into Suzaku. He stepped back with a flicker of confusion, but quickly went back into panic mode. "Now's not the time Suzaku—a cat's running away with something that belongs to me!"

"A cat…? What's so important that a cat has you _this_ riled up, Lelouch?"

"I-It's… none of your concern! Just let me through!"

Not wanting to be a bother, Suzaku stepped to the side. _Hmm… that "none of my concern" bit is interesting…_ "Hey! Can I help look for that cat?!" he called after Lelouch.

"I've got it… under control!" came the reply.

_I… don't think you do. You never were one for exercising… how are you supposed to catch a cat if you can't even run for a few seconds without wheezing?_ Suzaku sighed, shaking his head. Maybe Lelouch would actually decide to build up his endurance after this… He'd have to be pretty embarrassed if he couldn't even catch a cat.

Suzaku realized that Z.Z. hadn't come down the stairs yet, and he _did_ want to talk to the guy (even if he was just as crazy as his sister), so he ran back up to the roof, only to catch a glimpse of the guy _jumping off of said roof_. Suzaku couldn't shout in time to make him stop, and he _knew_ he wouldn't be able to make it over there in time, but he still ran over to the edge, his eyes wide with a different type of fear than Lelouch. From this high up… there's no way that Z.Z. could have…

There was no one lying on the ground. A small patch of red—_blood?!_—but no person. In fact, Z.Z. was already halfway across the courtyard… somehow. He was limping a little, but alive. Suzaku heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't like that man, but he would never wish him _dead_. Z.Z. must be very lucky…

* * *

She hated him. That much Kallen had decided when Zero—no, _Lelouch_—had given all of her _friends_ jobs to do until he contacted them next, but ordered _her_ to continue going to Ashford Academy simply because he didn't plan on leaving the school, and wanted a bodyguard of sorts. As if an _exiled_ and _disinherited_ prince had any right to order _her_ around!

And not only that, but it had been a full week and Kallen had _yet_ to be able to speak to him in private—_oh_, how she wanted to do that. He'd either be in class or with the Student Council, where she _had_ to be a quiet weakling, or at the hospital visiting his sister, where she wasn't allowed to go thanks to the hospital's _stupid_ visitation rules. She was also certain he had smirked at her when they'd _finally_ been alone in the Student Council Room… and Shirley had walked in and made the whole thing awkward.

Zero, though? She would listen to _Zero_. The masked man had _more_ than proved his worth at Shinjuku, and when rescuing Suzaku from his military escort. His special power would definitely be a _major_ asset, too.

_Dammit, why do they have to be the same person? Zero is a hero, when Lelouch is… an asshole._ Kallen thought angrily as she walked into the courtyard. For once, it was almost entirely empty. The _almost_ was caused by a purple cat… wearing a mask… _Zero's_ mask, walking proudly down the sidewalk. Quite a distance away, Lelouch was trying to catch up to the cat but failing _miserably_, and his one accomplice Z.Z. was _almost_ outpacing him while _limping_.

As much as she'd like to let Lelouch learn his lesson—what sort of _idiot_ does it take to let a _cat_ steal incriminating evidence?—Kallen knew she had to keep the other students from seeing that mask. That would ruin Zero, after all, and he was their ticket to destroying Britannia and liberating Japan.

"Hey! You guys need help catching that cat?!" Kallen called, discarding her bag underneath a bush (that bag would only hinder her running, anyways) before running to the two men.

"That would be… great," Lelouch said, bent over while trying to catch his breath. "We need to… corner that animal… somewhere it can't escape…"

_You know, for a man who's _supposed _to be leading a rebellion against Britannia, you _suck _at exercise if you're _this _worn out after running._

"Perhaps the bell tower?" Z.Z. suggested. "It'd be nigh impossible for Arthur to escape if we cornered him there."

"You know… that cat?!" Lelouch shouted.

"Me? Not really. I just happened to know that your sister Euphemia named him Arthur after tending to his paw."

Kallen was about to interrupt. _Nunnally_ was the name of Lelouch's sister, not _Euphemia_. Then she remembered the whole "Britannian prince" thing. Euphemia must have been one of his half-sisters. "Alright, cool, we know its name now. How's that supposed to help us catch it, exactly?"

"That cat's male…" the blonde mumbled, his expression blank.

* * *

Lelouch smiled proudly when he saw that _stupid cat_ run into the bell tower's entrance. Arthur wouldn't be able to stay away for much… longer… His glee immediately vanished, sucked out of him by… _Oh shit who just made it into the tower before us?!_

Whoever it was, they'd see Zero's mask…!

"Kallen! Z.Z.! Stop that person!" he cried. They were farther ahead than he was; they obviously had the better chance than he did, catching the person with the head start. _Curse… my… pathetic… endurance… And DAMN. THESE. STAIRS. TO. HELL!_ He could hardly breathe, but he knew he had to press on. If only there weren't so many of these _goddamn stairs_…!

…

Apparently Z.Z.'s definition of "stop that person" was to knock them to the ground and sit on their head. While that _was_ an effective strategy, with Kallen holding down the person's arms, _that person_ was Suzaku.

_I thought I said I didn't need your help…_ Lelouch thought disdainfully, shaking his head while he continued past the three. _You're too altruistic for your own good, you know._

_At last!_ He almost cheered when he made it to the roof of the tower—it meant the end of this stupid chase, and he _wouldn't_ have to run anymore! His smirk only grew wider when he saw the cat perched underneath one of the bells, and it didn't look like he would be moving anytime soon. Not that he'd be able to go anywhere if he did—Lelouch was blocking the one exit, and Z.Z., Kallen, and Suzaku would all be able to catch Arthur if he made it around Lelouch.

It was when he was trying to swing around from the window to get on the roof that his foot slipped, and he couldn't regain the traction—he couldn't even dig his fingernails into the roof tiles. He just kept falling… until he hit the edge of the roof, and was able to grab onto the gutter.

_No! I can't… I can't die here! Not yet…!_

There was no way he'd be able to pull himself back up. Even if he _hadn't_ worn himself out from running across campus and up a ton of stairs, he still wouldn't be able to. But he couldn't just cling to the gutter until someone saved him—he could already hear the metal groaning under his weight. Gutters weren't meant to hold up people.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku's worried face appeared above him, both of his hands grabbing Lelouch's wrist.

Lelouch heaved a sigh of relief, but frowned. _Wait… how is he…? Oh._ Z.Z. was holding onto one of Suzaku's legs while also holding onto the window frame. Kallen was up the roof, holding Arthur… and the Zero mask. _My identity is safe._ "Ah… thanks, you guys…"

Suzaku grinned at him, "Well, I wasn't just going to let you _fall_…"

* * *

Lelouch was almost glad his near-death experience on the tower happened, if only because Suzaku had been the one to save him… and that made some people warm up to the idea of having an honorary Britannian at Ashford. It even gave him an excuse to ask Milly to let Suzaku join the student council.

There were two reasons why he wasn't actually glad. The first being… well, he almost _died_. The second being the fact that it led Shirley to give him another "You need to be more careful, Lulu" speech, something he'd been hearing a lot in the past week. It was nice to know he had _someone_ who cared about him… but the same speech multiple times was enough to get under his skin, at least a little bit.

"…Are you listening to me?"

He blinked. The crowd of students that had gathered upon seeing him _almost falling to his death_ was gone, even Shirley and Milly. He couldn't see Z.Z. or Kallen, either. Instead, Suzaku was the only one in front of him. "Ah… I'm sorry, I wasn't," he said. "What were you saying?"

"I asked about how you knew Z.Z. He's… dangerous."

_Of course he'd ask about that._ "How do _you_ know he's dangerous?" _Time for the story I came up with._ "I never pegged you as the gambling type, Suzaku."

His Japanese friend narrowed his eyes. "…Gambling?"

"Well, the reason he showed up today was that I forgot I owed him a hefty sum of money after losing a bet…" Lelouch said, attempting to pull off a sheepish look to sell his story. "I've been preoccupied at the hospital ever since Nunnally was rushed there last week…"

Suzaku, not knowing what had happened, instantly gasped, his eyes going wide. "Nunnally's in the hospital?! What happened?"

* * *

Suzaku wasn't sure if he fully believed Lelouch's explanation as to how he knew Z.Z. The man was recognizable enough even without his mask on, provided they saw him up close. He would have to be even more meticulous about showing his face than Zero—and _that man_ had a mask that functioned as a helmet so as to cover his entire head. Gambling with someone would be very risky… But he knew Lelouch couldn't be Zero or one of his allies, the only other explanation for him knowing Z.Z.

Then there was the matter of Nunnally. He was certainly looking forward to seeing her again, but the fact that she had a _heart attack_ just a week ago worried him to no end. _And Lelouch seemed a bit… angry underneath his fearful demeanor when he spoke about Nunnally's condition. Like he knew someone had _caused _the heart attack…_ But that couldn't be the case, so he shoved the very thought even deeper in his mind.

The two stopped just outside of Nunnally's hospital room, and Lelouch looked at him with his violet eyes. "Suzaku, try to be quiet and match my footsteps exactly. I want you being here to be a complete surprise to Nunnally. She… deserves one to cheer her up after being stuck in here for a week."

He definitely agreed with that. "Sure, no problem."

Suzaku missed several of Lelouch's steps once he actually laid eyes on Nunnally for the first time in seven years. She hadn't really changed other than growing older… but her skin was still a few shades paler than he remembered. A lingering reminder of the fact that she almost died last week…

The girl's head turned towards the two of them. "Big Brother… who's here with you?"

"Shoot. I was trying to make it be a complete surprise…" Lelouch replied. He gave Suzaku a slightly dissatisfied look before cocking his head towards Nunnally. "_Go ahead, take her hand,"_ he mouthed to Suzaku.

So take her hand he did.

Nunnally gasped slightly as she put her other hand on top of Suzaku's, rubbing it gently. "This hand… Oh, I'm so glad you're alright, Suzaku!"

He chuckled a little, "You're the one in the hospital, Nunnally. Shouldn't that be what I say to you?"

It was Nunnally's turn to giggle. "Maybe so…"

They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and sharing a lot of laughs—it was almost like the time he'd spent with Euphy travelling around the Settlement, and that helped Suzaku forget about his worries _that_ much further.

Still, the more and more time he spent in that little hospital room, the more Suzaku rationalized Lelouch _not_ being Zero. He obviously wouldn't risk Nunnally's safety if he was caught playing the role of a wanted terrorist.

…Right?

* * *

Kallen had to wait several days before she'd get a chance to speak to Lelouch in private, and that was only when he approached her resistance group to speak about their next exploit together… preventing a massacre similar to what happened in Shinjuku, only over in the Saitama Ghetto this time. One of his "informants" in the military had supposedly informed him of the new Viceroy, Cornelia li Britannia's plan to purge Saitama in two days in an attempt to draw out Zero while also eliminating the terrorists there.

He intended to go meet with the Yamato Alliance immediately—to warn them of the assault, and to extend his aid in protecting the citizens/defeating Cornelia's forces—and preferred to have at least one person there for backup. Kallen had stepped up, knowing there would be a chance to talk to him without interference from anyone else.

_Not that he really needs backup, though. With that power of his, he can order them to do anything._ She shivered at the thought. He might have promised to never use his Geass on any of his allies, but what stopped him from using it to _make_ the Yamato Alliance join him?

"Zero… what do you plan to do if Yamato refuses to join you, or they turn tail and flee from Saitama?" Kallen asked while she drove them both over to the other ghetto.

Minus the helmet, Lelouch was already dressed in the Zero costume underneath a sweatshirt and baggy pants. He was even sporting a beanie and sunglasses—if they were stopped by a police barricade, checkpoint, or something similar, they'd think he was just a common street thug, not a criminal mastermind. "Until we're there, I'm not Zero, but Lelouch," he responded.

She scowled at him. "Well then _Lelouch_, what's your plan?"

"If I can't convince them… you already know what I can and will do."

"Geass…" The contempt in her voice was evident to the both of them.

"I assure you, I'll only resort to that if I must."

That didn't make her trust him any more.

"By the way… I never did properly thank you for getting my mask back from that cat," Lelouch said, his gaze still fixated on the scenery outside the truck. "So… Thank you."

Kallen grumbled something under her breath about it taking him several days for a proper thank you, and turned her attention back to the road.

* * *

Getting into the Yamato Alliance's headquarters was easy enough for them thanks to Zero's publicity. Getting them to listen was also a very easy task. Getting them to decide to follow Zero… that was a different story.

Kallen could tell there were a few members who would definitely support Zero, no questions asked. They really got behind what he was saying—how he had proven in Shinjuku that Britannia was _not_ invincible, and how they had a duty to protect the innocent Japanese who lived in Saitama, and how they would likely never get another favorable opportunity to counterattack Britannia like this.

But those people were few and far between. Most of them were either too skeptical of Zero—that was due to his mask—or were simply too scared to even _think_ of facing Cornelia's Royal Guard head on. Unfortunately for Kallen and Lel—_Zero_—the leader of the Yamato Alliance fit into the former of those two categories, and would not be swayed by anything Zero said.

At one point, the masked man simply quit speaking. He tilted his head down and sighed. "It appears I have no choice… _Kallen, close your eyes_." The last part was whispered to her, and she listened.

_He's going to use his Geass._

Kallen heard the panel on Zero's mask slide open, and several gasps of confusion as her fellow Japanese watched obliviously. Then she heard the swish of Zero's cape—no doubt he had thrown an arm out in one of his outlandish poses as he ordered, "_All of you, obey me without question!"_

There was a second of pause, before everyone else in the room chorused, "Yes, Master Zero!"

The deed finished, the redhead opened her eyes. She surveyed the scene in front of her with a frown on her face. It… _hurt_ to see all of these people robbed of their free will. It didn't matter what Zero's end goal was… this just felt _wrong_ on so many levels. She looked up at the masked man. "Are you sure this was really necessary? You could have used it only on their leader…"

"For most people, there is a limit to loyalty. Even if their leader remained steadfast, if the other members of the Yamato Alliance thought it was an unwinnable battle, they would flee in a heartbeat. I cannot allow for any more variables… especially with what I intend to do." Zero replied. "Don't worry… I can and will give them all back their free will once the battle with the new Viceroy is completed."

Even with that in mind, it didn't ease Kallen's conscience at all.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: So yeah. Cat chase scene except not with **_**literally everyone on campus**_ **participating in it, and Lelouch failing at physical activity. I kind of **_**needed**_ **a comic relief section after everything I've pulled.**

**Then there's the lead-in to the Saitama Ghetto massacre. Maybe Lelouch was being pretty heartless, but hey, he couldn't convince them normally, and he knew what that meant (them bailing in the middle of battle).**

**Oh, this is going to be fun.**

**Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story, and I hope you guys all leave a review for this chapter!**


	12. Stage 12: The Battle of Saitama

_*****Thanks to Demons Anarchy of Pride, mcdinh, northernlion196, Aryan810101, MrtheratedG, BlackTyrantValvatorez, Republic (three times), Jarjaxle, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, OBSERVER01, and MM Browsing, the eleven people who reviewed the previous chapter, and A friend, the one person who reviewed chapter ten!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: *Heaves sigh of gigantic relief* I'm so glad you think so. I'm always afraid I'll slip into OOC territory with some of the stuff I pull, especially with Kallen. And since you think I'm writing her the best, well, that gives me the confidence booster I need. Thanks!**_

_**Guest Review Reply - A friend: You really didn't have to, so thanks for taking the time to review a chapter you missed out on.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Man, I had a hard time picking out exactly when I wanted to start this chapter. Then I kept getting distracted by the Internet (doesn't help that I have a shorter attention span than a goldfish sometimes). Sorry for the tiny delay.**

**Anyways, Saitama Ghetto battle time. Two notes about that: first, Lelouch is in his Zero costume the whole time, so Z.Z. was the one who drew out the pilot of the one Sutherland for him. The second, I decided to be different from like all of the authors again and, instead of having Lelouch go by "K-1" over the radio, he is now "Z-1", with Z.Z. and S.S. being "Z-2" and "Z-3", respectively. (I know there isn't a piece in chess that starts with the letter Z. My muses decided that it fit since Lelouch is Zero, and the two immortals are his self-proclaimed accomplices.)**

**I don't own Code Geass… but you guys should still enjoy this chapter.**

**Stage 12: The Battle of Saitama**

_Finally… the board is finished being set. Let's see what your first move is, Cornelia._

Most of the citizens of the Saitama Ghetto had been evacuated already—in secret, of course, so that the invading Britannians were clueless as to why there were no citizens to slaughter—either by staying with friends in other ghettos, or by fleeing into the abandoned subway system. The few who could not make either trip were moved to the center of Saitama—they would be heavily protected by several Yamatos commanded by S.S. Those in the tunnels were being protected by the members of the Yamato Alliance that were not present when Lelouch used his Geass on them, and he did not feel like using it again. Protecting the citizens of Saitama was enough motivation for them to participate—he didn't need more mindless slaves.

The others—the Geassed members, plus those from Shinjuku along with Z.Z.—were all fitted up with stolen Sutherlands, waiting for orders. And he, Lelouch, had just stolen himself a Sutherland of his own. He sat in the cockpit, staring at the screen, twirling a pawn between his fingers. Cornelia's forces were spread out just like he had seen in his dreams… but this time, there were no innocent civilians to be wary of, and he also had a few extra pieces on the board.

_Not only that… I may not trust him in the slightest, but Z.Z.'s abilities grant me quite a few extra options. I wonder which one he'll choose…_

In any case, four enemy Sutherlands ahead of the rest were closing in on the center of the ghetto, and he could not allow that. Not if he intended to hold up on his half of the bargain he made to Suzaku as Zero… "P-3, P-5, move to point E-13 and open fire towards 9 o'clock," Lelouch ordered into the radio. "N-1, take out the man on the left."

_This is going smoothly,_ he thought as he watched four of the symbols change to say "LOST". _Much smoother than the world of my dreams, at least. If only I didn't have to use my Geass to achieve this level of obedience…_ His gaze moved towards the queen piece he had placed on his right. _Kallen… I suppose it's my fault you don't trust me fully, isn't that right? I need to have a conversation with you sometime soon…_

* * *

Meanwhile, the redheaded half-Japanese woman sat in her own stolen Sutherland, scowling. Zero had given them all places to stay and wait for orders before the battle had started, and she hadn't received any more commands. Of course _she_ had to get the _one_ spot where none of the Britannians tried to go. _Just my luck…_

Unless Zero was doing it on purpose. …_No, he wouldn't do that, not even when he's Lelouch. He needed my help to catch Arthur the other day. He _owes _me for that. Not only that, he told me himself he needed as many people fighting on his side as possible when going up against the new Viceroy. There's no way he'd have me sit out for whatever reason._

Her radio crackled, "_Q-1, fire your slash harkens up 30 degrees towards the building across the street from you. Once you're finished with that, I'd like you to make your way towards my location. If you see any soldiers on your way, shoot them down. Z-2, do the same."_

She blinked—_finally_—and followed her orders. The harkens hit two of the support beams for one of the upper floors in that building, and when they retracted, caused that floor and the ones above it to collapse. Kallen saw why that had been her order a moment later as she left her hiding place—there were the crushed remains of two or three Sutherlands buried in the fresh rubble.

_If this keeps up… we'll force the Goddess of Victory herself to retreat,_ she thought, a grin forming on her face. _Wonder how well _that _will turn out. You aren't invincible anymore, Britannia! As long as we have Zero_—a man no one could really trust thanks to his power—_there's no way we'll lose!_

* * *

"N-1, take out the bridge and close down the route now," he said. When he was done, he leaned back in the cockpit with a laugh as he watched the many enemy units that were on that bridge get destroyed. That should be the final push he needed to have Cornelia retreat—he'd caused more havoc than he had in those other worlds. Looked like he didn't need Kallen or Z.Z.'s back-up after all…

Except for the fact that they weren't retreating just yet. Were they so determined to kill at least one Eleven that they would keep fighting even after they've suffered so many losses…?

"R-2, turn 50 degrees to your right and open fire."

What was different enough to cause this?

"P-7, P-8, maintain distance and draw those tailing you to where B-2 is. B-2, shoot your slash harkens at the Sutherlands following them."

_It can't have been the fact that I didn't use my Geass on Jeremiah. There's no way something that small could have made a change this big. …The butterfly effect, though…_ What else had he changed? Suzaku was his ally, but that was too much of a secret to cause _any_ changes right now… He had toyed a bit with Clovis before killing him, but the fact that he still died didn't change much…

"Z-3, status report."

What about Z.Z. and S.S.? Could they have done something—purposefully or accidentally—and not let him in on it? That sort of variable he hated, but it at least made sense.

"_Just finished driving away a squad of foot soldiers, Z-1!"_ S.S.'s voice chirped through the radio.

"Good."

If only Cornelia would withdraw already. That would let him start one of his plans involving Z.Z., and that would let him spend more time at the hospital with Nunnally…

"_You there! State your name and rank!"_ a vaguely familiar male voice ordered.

…_What?!_ Lelouch slowly turned his Sutherland around; there was another one there, behind him, the red-plated shoulders and face signifying that it belonged to a member of the Purist Faction. _A Pureblood… but how…? Ah… I see. You figured out we were using Sutherlands with disabled IFFs, and tried tricking me with the same, Cornelia._

Still, he couldn't help but be shocked. The Purist Faction had been all but eliminated in his dreams thanks to what he had done while saving Suzaku. Perhaps _not_ using Geass on Jeremiah was the source of this change… _Looks like I allowed myself to get a little _too _comfortable… but I cannot let myself get caught._ He just had to stall until Kallen or Z.Z. made it here… they shouldn't be too far away.

"_Your name and rank, soldier!"_ the Pureblood repeated.

_Kewell. Kewell Soresi,_ Lelouch realized. _He was in that procession as well._ "I am no soldier, Lord Kewell," he replied, lifting up the king from his pile of chess pieces. _It's time for me to finally move my king… myself._

"_Zero…! I'll make you pay for what you did to Jeremiah and Viletta!"_ Kewell shouted, firing his assault rifle.

Several of the bullets tore through the lower extremities of Lelouch's Sutherland as he tried dodging, but none of the damage put it out of commission. In return, he shot off his slash harkens—one of them missed entirely, the other took out half of the Purist Sutherland's arms.

_Jeremiah, though? I know that what Viletta did would have her thrown in prison, but what happened to Jeremiah?_

A second hail of gunfire rained down on Lelouch without warning—a _second_ Britannian with their IFF disabled combined with Kewell joining in on it—and this time it certainly damaged Lelouch's stolen Sutherland. One bullet in particular made its way into the cockpit—_must have found the weak spot in the metal_—destroying the display screen in front of him.

…Meaning he had no way to see outside of his Sutherland anymore.

_Tsk…!_ "Q-1, Z-2, I need your backup _ASAP_!" he barked into the radio. They couldn't be too far away…

"_I'll be there in less than a minute Ze—Z-1!"_ Kallen replied.

"_Gonna be a little longer for me; these four Britannians decided I was an easy target,"_ Z.Z. said. Lelouch caught the sound of gunfire—unless that was from the Purebloods—and Z.Z.'s cackling laughter before the radio cut off.

_Less than a minute… can I last that long?_ With his back to the wall, and not being able to fight back against his two assailants… _I hate being a sitting duck. If only I had one of those more advanced Knightmares from the other world…_ The awful sound of metal being torn apart resonated above him; the second member of the Purist Faction was using the silver lance their Knightmare was carrying to tear open the cockpit. _Dammit…!_ Lelouch snatched up his discarded mask, sliding it over his head as quick as he could. _But… if they wanted to kill me, they would have just stabbed through my cockpit and been done with it. This new person seems to be deliberately trying to get me _out _of my Sutherland now._

_Of course… Cornelia wants me captured alive. She'd like to have the honor of killing me herself, in addition to being able to make a scene out of Zero's death._ And if all they really wanted was to watch him squirm before he died here, he hid a smoke bomb in his hand, just in case he needed to make a quick escape.

He looked up when Kewell's Sutherland made a noise… and the light-brown-haired man exited it, carrying a pair of handcuffs. _Looks like you _are _trying to arrest me… Still, you just made the biggest mistake of your life. _Lelouch grabbed his radio and quickly commanded, "Q-1, when you make it to my location, attack the Knightmare that is holding a silver jousting lance—I'm dealing with the pilot of the other one."

He didn't have time to hear her reply; Kewell shot the radio out of his hands. _Remarkable accuracy…_ "I suppose you're going to gloat about how you've managed to capture Zero, aren't you?" Lelouch asked dryly.

The Pureblood looked at him in disgust. "No… I wish I could kill you right now, but those were not my orders." He aimed the gun at Lelouch's chest. "Step out of your Knightmare slowly. Try anything and I'll shoot."

"I understand." The masked man sounded calm, but he was really agitated. He could not stall for much longer… when would Kallen get here? Had it already been a minute? Did she miscalculate her arrival time? Regardless, he had to act quickly…

Both Zero and Kewell were on the ground now, the latter making to put the handcuffs on the former. Suddenly, a portion of the left side of the mask opened up, revealing Lelouch's eye to the Britannian soldier. And before he could react, Lelouch's eye started to burn, his vision taking on a tint of red. "I know you have to arrest me, but first… _Won't you listen to my commands?_"

Somehow, he timed that _perfectly_, as Kallen's arrival was marked by her slamming head-on into the remaining Knightmare. Kewell Soresi did not react in the slightest to his friend's peril, instead standing there like a statue as Kallen fought against the other Sutherland.

The light-brown-haired man knelt down, one arm over his chest as he bowed. "What would you have me do, Master Zero?"

"First… give me your gun," Lelouch said. Not that he really needed the gun, but it was for safety purposes. When that command finished, he added, "Now then… Earlier, you expressed your wish to make me pay for what I did to Jeremiah Gottwald and Viletta Nu. What happened to them after I rescued Suzaku Kururugi from your escort?"

* * *

She made it just in time. The Britannian soldier was too occupied with keeping an eye on Zero that they had no time to react when she slammed into their Sutherland. In the meantime, she saw the panel on Zero's mask open up; he was clearly using Geass on that stupid Pureblood. _Hah, serves you right, whoever you are. You should've stayed in your Knightmare if you wanted to win against Zero._

Zero, though. He might have sounded perfectly calm when telling her which Sutherland to attack when she made it to his side, but Kallen swore the masked man had sounded like he'd gone into panic mode when demanding backup as soon as possible. He wasn't… nearly as invincible as he tried to make himself appear. Then again, he could have not seen the two guys coming at him… but that would be too big of a mistake he'd make. Right?

Kallen grinned in pleasure when her opponent was finally forced to eject; another victory for Japan, and another loss for Britannia. She retained that smile even after turning around and seeing what Zero had done. The man in black and violet held a gun in his hand, and the _poor_ soldier who'd tried to arrest him lay dead at his feet from a bullet to the skull. _Better dead than his eternal slave_, a part of her mind noted. She shook her head fervently; either of the guy's fates didn't bother her.

"My thanks, Q-1," Zero said, without looking up at her. Instead, he pilfered through the dead man's pockets until he pulled out the key to his Sutherland. It made perfect sense, considering the one he _had_ been piloting was… barely usable now.

"No problem," she replied. _Though, now you owe me double._

She spared a glance at the grid-like map in front of her. It didn't look like there were any other Sutherlands nearby… and it looked like the ones still functioning were _retreating_. _Retreating! Zero's pulled off another miracle like Shinjuku, only this time, people didn't have to die… and his opponent was Cornelia!_ Kallen wondered how they'd try to keep _this_ covered up from the rest of the world…

"_All units, ceasefire!"_ Zero's voice came through the radio. He'd already gotten into the Purist's Sutherland. "_We have achieved our victory—Viceroy Cornelia has ordered her forces to retreat!"_ He paused, likely to allow for the others to cheer or something. "_Yes, we have shown Britannia once again that they are not invincible, and we did not have to sacrifice any citizens of this ghetto to do so!"_

He continued his rousing victory speech for quite some time, and Kallen could almost _hear_ the cheers of the Japanese who were listening to it. She even found _herself_ agreeing wholeheartedly with his words. _His methods might be questionable, but he certainly means well. Who else would be able to stir up this much hope in us? Maybe Lelouch isn't such a bad guy after all…_ That thought continued when he specifically thanked the Yamato Alliance for their assistance—the trigger words to free them from his control. It didn't _really_ surprise her that he _did_ follow through with his promise… but she still felt like there was a possibility he wouldn't have done that.

_Zero…_

* * *

Inside of his Sutherland, Z.Z. looked smug as he listened to Zero give his victory speech, all the while retreating with the Britannian forces. This was the first time in quite a while that he had been directly involved in a battle, and he'd almost forgotten how invigorating it was. Though, he _did_ wish he could be in a Knightmare better than a Sutherland. They _sucked_ in comparison to the Lancelot or the Guren. …_Well, a _lot _of Knightmares suck in comparison to those two. I'll definitely have to talk to Rakshata once she shows up here,_ he thought.

His smug look turned even more frightening when he finally made it to his destination, the area just in front of the G-1. _Where Cornelia would order all of her soldiers to exit their Knightmares immediately for identity verification. _"Z-1, I'm in position to reap the ultimate amount of chaos possible," the blonde said into his communicator.

"_Good. Do pass on my regards to the Viceroy from me, won't you?"_

The immortal laughed. "I've got it covered." _I've got it covered and more._

Z.Z. slid on his visor and straightened his cravat—_man, is it hard to pilot a Knightmare in a suit_—before pressing a few buttons inside of his Knightmare to set the several Chaos Mines—even the extra ones he'd taken from other Sutherlands—to go off in one minute. Because one minute was all he needed to speak.

_1:00._

He opened the cockpit, standing up tall once the seat was fully exposed to the daylight. He immediately attracted the attention of the soldiers conducting the identity checks, suddenly staring down the barrels of countless anti-personnel machine guns. His smirk grew larger; they had no idea how useless those guns were on him.

_0:50._

"Hello, soldiers of Britannia. My name is Z.Z." He kept his hands pressed to his sides, but bowed. "As you can assume from my appearance, yes, I am one of Zero's allies. And yes, I am aware of the fact that you have 'caught' Zero. Unfortunately for you… disabling your IFF signals like we disabled ours was not nearly enough of a surprise to catch Zero off-guard. Kewell Soresi has been killed."

_0:40._

"It's a shame, really," Z.Z. said. "This whole event was your attempt to draw Zero out, wasn't it, Cornelia? To make him pay for the humiliation he gave to your half-brother Clovis?" He shook his head, laughing.

_0:30._

"You're lucky we knew about your assault beforehand, Princess. If you'd actually been able to kill any of the citizens, Zero would have had no choice but to assassinate you _just_ like Clovis. After all, ordering the massacre of innocents just to draw one man out of hiding is just as bad as the reason the previous Viceroy ordered the purge of Shinjuku."

_0:20_.

"Remember how Zero mentioned 'Orange' in his public debut? It's actually the cover name for a _very_ illegal project called Code R… that _he_ was in charge of." A lie, but one he'd been given permission to tell. "Don't believe me? It's all hidden in the records if you look hard enough…"

_0:10._

"Anyways, it was certainly nice talking to the lot of you! Oh, and Zero sends his regards. Maybe next time you'll be able to meet him in person! That is…" he lowered his head, "if you even _have_ a next time."

_0:00._

The Chaos Mines he'd attached to his Sutherland went off simultaneously, spraying shrapnel in every direction around him but down—how would it cause chaos if it just hit the ground, after all?

He lost count of the number of explosions around him after his body became riddled with bullets—the counterattack some lucky soldiers were able to pull off. He fell to the ground, landing quite ungracefully on his head. He felt his neck snap, and everything temporarily went black.

…_Hah._

* * *

_Aaaaaaaaaand_ her mood was effectively ruined when, instead of going to help the citizens of Saitama move back to their homes like the _rest_ of her friends were doing, Lelouch made her into his personal chauffeur. Now, if he didn't have a driver's license, she would understand needing someone to give him a ride back to the Settlement or something like that. But Lelouch _did_ have one, meaning she was roped into driving him to the hospital for literally no reason.

_Just when I was starting to think you weren't really a bad guy…_ Kallen huffed a little, sparing a glance at him in the passenger's seat. He'd already changed back into the Ashford Academy uniform (when, she had no idea), and was writing in a really battered notebook.

He paused, looking up at her. Their eyes met for a split second before she returned her attention back to the road. "…Well?" Lelouch asked. "Aren't you going to ask me anything? We _are_ finally alone. Haven't you been waiting for an opportunity like this?"

…_He saw right through me._ Not wanting to admit that, she let out a frustrated humph. "I'm not your chauffeur. Why am _I_ the one driving?"

"It's not exactly possible to write while trying to drive a vehicle," he responded, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She rolled her eyes. "What's so important about it?"

"I need to record the variables I've caused while the results are fresh in my mind. I may be a tactical genius, but I do _not_ have a photographic memory. …Speaking of which, if you _aren't_ going to make use of this opportunity to speak to me, I'm going back to writing. It's your choice…"

_Ugh… this is an annoying situation, but I don't know when I'd have another one. So then…_ "Fine. I… I want to know _why_. Why you're _really_ helping us defeat Britannia… and I don't mean because you _despise_ your own country." She could tell there was something else that drove him. The way he acted did not add up if hatred was his only motivator.

"I do it for my sister, Nunnally."

_That_ was something she did not expect. How could he be doing it for her? Other than revenge for her being injured and then cast aside as a political tool… but that goes right back to hating Britannia, along with the fact that _he_ was used as a tool as well. "Huh?"

"The day before I met with your group the first time, she was folding paper cranes while waiting for me to come to breakfast. She told me that our maid, Sayoko, had told her the story of how your wish will be granted if you fold a thousand of them…"

Kallen nodded slowly, a smile _trying_ to form on her face. It always made her happy when a piece of Japanese culture was remembered—and taught to a Britannian princess, no less. "I guess you asked her what her wish was, didn't you?"

The corners of Lelouch's mouth twitched slightly. "Yes, I did. She told me… She told me she wished the world was a gentler place. I promised her that it would be by the time she could see again." He started to play with the pen in his hands. "The world will not—_cannot_—be a gentler place as long as the weak are oppressed by the strong."

"Ah." He didn't need to explain any more of that. She saw enough hatred and racism and oppression every time she was around other Britannians. There could never be peace as long as the Empire kept taking over new land. People would always protest against being conquered, hence the many resistance groups around Japan… "You'd… do all that just for your sister, huh?"

"What sort of older brother would I be if I had the power to fulfil her wish, but didn't bother to try?" he retorted.

She flinched like his words had actually cut into her skin. It really felt like they did. What Lelouch said just tore off the emotional scabs she'd had ever since _her_ older brother had died. _Naoto_…

"…I just reminded you of _your_ brother, didn't I?" Lelouch asked. "I'm… sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of his death."

She shrugged it off like nothing, even though it _wasn't_ 'nothing'; it had been her life for the past year. The redhead coughed as a way to transition the topic from awkward back to what she wanted to know. "Um… anyways… why not march right up to your father and Geass him into making the world a better place?"

Lelouch let out a forced laugh. "If only it were that simple. There are too many corrupt nobles who would no doubt try to overthrow my father if he so much as _suggested_ anything they did not agree with. I would have to use my Geass on all of _them_ as well… not to mention the fact that my father is well aware of the power of Geass, and no doubt has countermeasures for it in place. No, the only choice I have is to destroy the Holy Britannian Empire, and rebuild it from the ground up."

"Oh, so now you want to _rebuild_ the nation after you destroy it?"

He looked at her slyly. "You think I'd leave that job in someone else's hands? …By the way, you missed our turn."

"Wha—dammit, you distracted me!"

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, Nunnally. Traffic was really bad today, and my ride missed our turn," Lelouch said as he walked into her hospital room. He froze in the doorway when he saw that there was _someone else_ in the room, sitting by her bedside, and Nunnally was trying to show them how to fold paper cranes.

The sandy-brown-haired girl lifted her head towards him. "Big Brother! I have really great news!"

The man next to her turned around, and Lelouch was able to relax _somewhat_—he was actually the doctor he'd seen check up on Nunnally every once in a while, just without the white coat on. The man _did_ look young for a doctor, not to mention the fact that he had his dark hair covering his left eye—a deliberate fashion, because Lelouch could see the edges of an eyepatch beneath it—but he had credentials. "Ah, yes, your sister certainly does have great news, Mr. Lamperouge," he said.

"I can go home tomorrow!" she said happily.

"Really? That _is_ great news!" He probably sounded a little _too_ enthusiastic about that, but it was really how he felt. Not having Nunnally stuck at the hospital made it a lot easier for him, not having to worry about her identity being found out. "Though, is there any reason you're showing Dr. Signekyl how to fold cranes?"

"Oh, I asked her to, nothing more than that," Dr. Signekyl replied. "I admired the one she made specifically for me, and wanted to know how to make them myself."

"Uh-huh! I even told him the story about the wish!" Nunnally chimed in happily, finishing a blue crane and smoothing out its wings.

_Of course you did, dear sister…_

"By the way…" the doctor suddenly said, "you look just like someone I knew from the homeland."

Lelouch stiffened, preparing to possibly having to use his Geass on the doctor; did this man just recognize him as the Eleventh Prince?

"You wouldn't happen to know a man by the name of Julius Kingsley, would you? He'd be your age, Mr. Lamperouge."

His shoulders relaxed. _Not Lelouch vi Britannia, good. But… Julius… Kingsley…?_ "No, and please just call me Lelouch."

"Oh." The dark-haired doctor frowned, his grey eye narrowing. "How strange."

"A coincidence, I'm sure." _A coincidence I might be able to exploit should I find this Julius Kingsley… Having someone who naturally looks just like me could be quite the advantage in a pinch. I wonder who he is…?_

"Aha, that must be it. Sorry for bothering you…"

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: …I'm sorry. This is what happens when people ask me if I'm going to use any spin-off characters in this story, and my muses decide to work in as many of them as physically possible. Julius Kingsley is, obviously, a completely separate person from Lelouch in this story. (Regardless of who he **_**actually**_ **is in Akito the Exiled, this is justified by the fact that a few family trees in **_**this**_ **incarnation of the Code Geass world are changed around slightly. Remember, I had Z.Z. say **_**some**_ **changes were possible between worlds. I'm riding that train as far as I possibly can.) Julius **_**will**_ **eventually become important… just not for a little while. (You'll… sort of see why there's a delay in him being important in the next chapter.)**

**In other news, Kewell is dead, Z.Z. pulled a kamikaze attack (he got away in the chaos that followed his "death" if anyone cares), Lelouch and Kallen finally had a decent conversation, and Nunnally gets to go home finally. Oh, and something apparently happened to Jeremiah but because I'm so evil you guys don't get to know what. Yep. Fun.**

**Please leave a review! They motivate me to keep writing!**


	13. Stage 13: In Justice We Trust

_*****Thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, Ulrich362, OBSERVER01, The Worldwalker, mcdinh, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Republic (three times), Jarjaxle, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, GoldenPiggy, guest, and MM Browsing, the twelve people who reviewed the previous chapter, and GoldenPiggy again for also reviewing chapter 7!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - The Worldwalker: Yes. He is. As for Narita and Mao, well… *Smirk* Trust me on this, those two events will have **_**quite** _**the interesting twists, courtesy of Z.Z. I hope I don't disappoint! Oh, and I'd never kill off Jeremiah, so he's at least not **_**dead**_**. (He's my THIRD favorite male character, behind Lelouch, obviously, and Lloyd, simply because his English VA is my favorite voice actor ever. Yes, I am that petty when it comes to picking favorite characters.)**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Wow… you're SERIOUSLY going all out with your AU backstory…**_

_**Guest Review Reply - guest: Yes. Yes I did. Thanks for the review!**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Well, the first scene of this chapter was interesting to write. I'm going to dedicate it to MM Browsing, since they're the one who wanted to see Cornelia's reaction to, well, what happened last chapter.**

**I'm also going to apologize ahead of time for the… clichéd cheesiness at the beginning of the third scene of this chapter. My shipping muse decided that something MUST be done about… an obvious pairing, and that's what came about from that. (It's more awkward than romance-y, but don't tell her that…) Also the name for this chapter. Seriously, when I name a chapter I try to come up with the key points of the chapter and play off that, and two of the biggest things were "trust" and "justice". More cheesiness for me…**

**Any other drops in my quality of writing go to the fact that, while writing this chapter, Google Drive decided to crash and reload pretty much every other minute (or EVERY minute) for whatever reason. This is ALMOST as annoying as the time I had to use an iPad to type up my fanfictions (**_**GOD, THE HORROR OF THAT**_**).**

**Anyways, I still hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh, and I still don't own Code Geass!**

**Stage 13: In Justice We Trust**

"_You're lucky we knew about your assault beforehand, Princess."_

The Viceroy of Area 11 massaged her temple as she paused the video of Z.Z.'s attack for the umpteenth time. She would continue to watch it until she could find a clue about Zero. Something, _anything_. She _had_ to avenge her half-brother Clovis' death, and she _had_ to have _something_ in the face of this defeat before word reached her father. Defeat was unacceptable, after all.

…_Clovis… were you really involved in something illegal…?_ Records of a "Code R" had yet to be found in the systems, and she hoped that it was really just a lie spun by Zero's followers as some sort of _excuse_ to kill Clovis. But she really could not lie to herself; it was not uncommon for her siblings to dabble in… unsavory practices in an attempt to gain favor in the eyes of their father. As it seemed, whatever it was had been enough for him to order the entirety of the Shinjuku Ghetto purged.

"_If you'd actually been able to kill any of the citizens, Zero would have had no choice but to assassinate you _just _like Clovis."_

How _had_ Zero been able to predict her attack on Saitama? Yes, she had been systematically getting rid of as many resistance groups as she could ever since assuming the position of Viceroy. Yes, she had announced it on live television an hour beforehand. But she had no pattern to what groups she destroyed, and there was _no_ way to evacuate an entire Ghetto in just one hour.

He had to have more moles inside of the government and army. In that case, then, who could she trust? Who amongst them reported only to her, and who to Zero?

There was also the matter of Z.Z. That man _had_ to have died—the end of the video detailed his bullet-ridden body falling to the ground amidst the chaos caused by the many Chaos Mines he had somehow attached to the Sutherland he piloted. So then why was his body never found? Why was there only a trail of bloodstained footprints that led away from the G-1… footprints that were supposedly consistent with the fanciful boots Z.Z. had been wearing?

…

_It's no use. I'll only develop a headache trying to figure this all out…_

"Sister Cornelia?"

Cornelia looked up, hiding a smile when she saw her only full-blooded sibling standing in the doorway of her room. "Euphy. What is it that you need?"

"Oh, I was just coming to let you know that dinner is ready," the pink-haired princess replied, a slight smile on her face. "You look like you're working really hard, though…"

"I can take a break from it," Cornelia replied, flicking off the TV.

"W-Wait! Turn that back on!"

_Hm…?_ There was no way that Euphy had seen something in a split second that Cornelia hadn't after watching the video for several hours straight. Still, any possible lead would be of extreme help to her, so the purple-haired princess turned it back on.

Euphemia narrowed her eyes at the blonde-haired man wearing the inverted Zero costume, and the golden visor trimmed with violet over his eyes. "Could… Could you zoom in on his face?"

_Don't tell me… you've seen him before?!_ Cornelia pursed her lips, and zoomed in on the man's face.

Her sister nodded slowly as she scratched her chin. "Yeah… that has to be her brother," Euphy muttered.

"Whose brother?"

"Oh, uh…" Euphy stared at her feet, fidgeting uncomfortably under Cornelia's intense gaze. "When I… When I went on my little… _tour_ of the Settlement, this strange woman came up to me. Her face looked almost exactly like what we can see on this man's, and she even mentioned having a brother… She said her name was S.S., and… and she and Suzaku Kururugi already seemed to know each other."

Cornelia scowled at the thought of that honorary Britannian, but she could not ignore his usefulness. If he knew S.S., he could very well know Z.Z… or even Zero himself. _Seems like I need to have a talk with Kururugi…_

* * *

While Cornelia was trying to figure out why she lost, Lelouch was busy calculating his next move. He knew from the start that things would go over differently in his world than in the ones of his dreams, and things seemed to be changing a lot sooner than he had predicted. It would be stupid of him to use those events as solid backing of his plans now… but he should still put plans together in case they still occurred. The next event would be… the hotel hijacking, if he remembered correctly.

There was also the matter of Julius Kingsley. Only three things about the man existed on the web: a birth certificate, a short news article about how he and his parents (the father being a disgraced duke) had died in a fire several years ago, and his consequential death certificate.

_Why did Dr. Signekyl ask me if I knew a dead man? From the picture of him in that news article, I can tell he clearly looked like me… Does he think that I _am _Julius, and try to see if it would get some sort of reaction out of me? There has to be some sort of connection here… but it looks like someone deleted the relevant information._ After all, there was no way the son of a duke—disgraced or no—would have so little information about him on the web. _I assume that this Julius is actually alive somewhere…_

He did not have the time to chase after a ghost, though. He had more pressing matters at hand, like the creation of the Black Knights, and the possibility of the hoteljacking, and what to do with Jeremiah and Viletta. How could he handle the latter if Euphemia was not amongst the hostages… and how could he convince Milly to postpone the trip to the center? He certainly did not want to risk his friends being hurt…

C.C. rolled over in Lelouch's bed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "If you are not going to go to sleep, could you at least stop tapping on your desk?" she asked.

"Hm…? Oh, sorry." He hadn't realized that his left hand had started tapping out a beat on the wood.

He watched as she rolled back over in _his_ bed. Not wanting there to be _any_ possible rumors about the two of them, he had not slept on his bed at all since C.C. had shown up, essentially claiming it as her own. Really, he had not been able to have a good night's sleep since this whole thing started. His shoulders and lower back ached from sleeping either sitting up or on the couch… but there was nothing he could do about it. A second bed would not fit in his room, and he knew he would not be able to talk C.C. into moving somewhere else.

He paid more attention to Z.Z. and S.S. than her, and he knew it. Ultimately, he had to grant C.C.'s wish, but how to discover what that wish was if he never saw her?

…_If only she wasn't wanted by the Empire. I would let her fight alongside me, just like the other two immortals…_

Lelouch glanced at the time. _21:49._

…_Did I even eat dinner?_

* * *

Suzaku had no idea what time it was when the sound of someone knocking on his door woke him up. He laid on his bed for a moment, debating on whether to ignore the person or answer the door. The person at his door knocking louder made the choice for him. He tossed off his covers, silently thankful that he did not have a roommate to disturb (though, the _reason_ for that bothered him; even though he had joined the student council _and_ saved Lelouch's life, a good majority of the students were still against the idea of having an Eleven at their school).

He stifled a yawn while he walked over to the door, leaning up against the frame as he pressed the button to let it slide open. "What is it this ti—" He froze mid-sentence, mouth slightly agape when he realized that it was _not_ a fellow student like he had expected, but instead a woman trying to hide her long pink hair in a hat, her eyes hidden behind glasses. "E-Euphy…?" He froze a second time as he looked down at himself.

There was no hiding the blush when he realized he was standing in front of the Third Princess wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Iamsosorry!Pleasegivemeaminute!" He bowed quickly, closing the door before flicking on the lights. It did not take him long to pull on proper clothing—one of his several copies of the Ashford Academy uniform—but it took him the rest of that moment to slow his heart rate back down to normal. _Why did it have to be her…? G-Goodness… the last time I was _this _embarrassed was when Nunnally asked me to be her pretend husband for the day since Lelouch was busy with something. I'm pretty sure Kaguya still has the pictures of when I carried her bridal-style around the shrine…_

He took a deep breath, hoping the burning in his face would go away when he opened the door a second time. "I… I'm really sorry about that, Euphy. If I'd known you were the one at the door, I wouldn't have…"

"I-It's fine, Suzaku!" Euphy replied, though her voice was a little unsteady. "Um… _I_ should be the one apologizing. I just… it took a few hours to get Ruben Ashford to tell me which room was yours… and I didn't want to go around waking everyone up… and my sister didn't want to wait until morning…"

"Your sister… you mean the Viceroy?" He'd met her once, briefly. She'd given him the title of Warrant Officer instead of Private, and that had been that. "What does she need me for?"

"It's about that crazy girl we met… S.S. Well, to be more precise, it's about her brother, Z.Z. She wants to know everything you can remember about him… and S.S., I guess."

"I… see…" _This does not bode well for keeping the fact that I'm Zero's informant a secret… Oh crap… the fact that the last time I saw Z.Z. was _with Lelouch… _I-I can't let the Empire know he's still alive…_

* * *

Lelouch's phone buzzed next to his head, and he squeezed one eye open to look at it. The screen was still the only source of light in his room… What sort of person would call him so early in the morning the sun was not up yet? …It was probably something urgent, so he grabbed it and stared at the screen. Shortly after four in the morning according to the display… and the caller ID read "Lancelot".

_Suzaku… calling for Zero…_

He sat up on the couch, grabbing the voice changer and attaching it to his phone before answering. "Hello, Suzaku Kururugi. Might I ask why you've called me so early in the morning? Some people _are_ trying to sleep, you know."

"_I'm sorry Ze—"_ he cut himself off, remembering that he was not supposed to say Zero's name over the phone line _just in case_. "_Eh… you told me to call you immediately after something came up on my end, and something did."_

"Oh? Do tell." _Is this another change I've overlooked…?_

"_The Viceroy… just questioned me extensively about your accomplices, Z.Z. and S.S. She thinks that they're her way to find you."_

"…I don't recall ever revealing S.S. to the world." She _had_ to have done something behind his back…

Suzaku paused for a moment. "_Well… not as your masked accomplice, at least. She's come up to me twice on the streets without a disguise on… Euphy—I mean Sub-Viceroy Euphemia was with me during that second visit, and was able to recognize Z.Z.'s face on the fact that the two look quite alike."_

He hid a noise of frustration, but still snarled at the phone. _Suzaku should _not _know her enough to call her Euphy…! _But he also _knew_ he should have kept a closer eye on S.S. The girl's exploits just gave Cornelia quite the lead towards him… that is, if they could _find_ her. "I see. What did you tell her?"

"_That I met them both once when they 'rescued' me from my court martial, and that S.S. approached me twice on the streets to apologize and ask me a question or two, respectively, escaping from me both times. I… didn't mention meeting Z.Z. at Ashford Academy."_

_Likely because you'd have to bring up me… You really _are _still a loyal best friend, aren't you?_ "Thank you for this information."

"_Wait… one last thing,"_ Suzaku said, a split second before Lelouch was going to hang up. "_I… I understand now that this is war… and that there _will _be casualties… but you shouldn't send your own allies on suicide missions. What you pulled with Z.Z. is—"_

"I beg to differ, Kururugi. Z.Z. himself _chose_ that mission wholeheartedly. Besides… who said that he died? Do not underestimate the miracles I can create." With that, Lelouch hung up the phone. His last words probably confused Suzaku to no end, but it was not as though he knew about the Code or Geass. He'd never be able to piece it together. Not enough to make sense without proof, anyways.

Still…

_Note to self: order Z.Z. and S.S. to get better disguises… and to tell me when they decide they want to go around _undisguised_._

* * *

School that day went over quickly—possibly because he slept through not one but _three_ of his classes—but Lelouch was rather grateful for that. He just wanted to go get Nunnally out of the hospital—one of the more pressing worries off his plate—as soon as possible. It seemed his fellow student council members felt the same; Shirley was back to her energetic self instead of fretting over Nunnally, Milly was probably planning _some_ sort of extravagant event to celebrate it, Suzaku seemed extremely happy even though he looked rather tired, and Rivalz was absorbed in admiring the limousine Kallen had managed to get them as transportation to and from the hospital. Nina was the exclusion; she had opted to stay at school.

"I've got it!" the student council president suddenly exclaimed, nearly smacking Shirley when she threw out her hands.

The orange-haired girl backed her head away slowly. "Got what, Prez?"

"Well, Nunnally's been cooped up in that dreary hospital room for over a week now, huh? I think we, as the student council—_and older brother_—" she jabbed a finger at Lelouch, "should take her around Tokyo, let her get a little fresh air. Ooh, maybe we could even go _outside_ the Settlement—I've heard good things about this convention center on Lake Kawaguchi…"

At this, Lelouch's eyes snapped towards the blonde woman. _The hotel hijacking. It was a convention center as well… Looks like we could be walking right into a trap unless I can…_ "When would you want to do this?" he asked.

"Saturday. That'll give your sister a few days to settle back into school life… and, you know, we'll have all day to have fun instead of only part of the afternoon."

"Saturday?" Suzaku frowned, his shoulders sagging a little. "I have to work this weekend…"

_Right… work piloting the Lancelot in an attempt to rescue the hostages from the hotel… if the JLF faction under Kusakabe still chooses to take its occupants hostage…_ Even if there was only a small chance of that even still happening, there had to be a way to postpone the trip… but against Milly… "What about _next_ weekend, Suzaku?" he proposed.

The brown-haired teen nodded slowly. "Yeah… I'm free next weekend."

"Ah… I have a swim meet," Shirley said, downcast.

"I'm busy that weekend too," Rivalz piped in. "My mom's coming to visit and… well, I'm probably gonna spend the whole weekend with her. You know how it is, right?"

Lelouch kept a straight face as he nodded with the rest of his friends. If only _he_ had a weekend to see his mother again… _But dammit Rivalz and Shirley, if you weren't both busy, I could have talked Milly into waiting for everyone to be free—two and a half weeks is too long for her. If I'm too pushy about the date now, Milly will _know _something's up, and I _don't _need her poking her nose in my business._ "We can't all go together then…? That's a shame."

"Hey, you don't have to worry about me," Suzaku said. "You all know Nunnally a lot more than I do, so you shouldn't postpone a trip for _her_ because of _me_."

_You're a remarkably good liar, Suzaku. And you _still _want to put others' feelings before your own…_

"It's settled then! Come Saturday, the Ashford Academy Student Council and its honorary member are going to have the time of their lives!" Milly declared.

None of his friends noticed the disdainful look in his eyes… None, save Kallen.

* * *

Kallen tapped her foot impatiently, just like her friends from her brother's resistance cell were. _What the hell are you trying to pull now, Lelouch?_

He'd slipped a note to her at the hospital, telling them to expect an appearance from Zero right around six o'clock that evening. He'd shown alright; sitting down on a chair with his arms crossed over his chest… and said nothing. She imagined he was staring at them through his mask, though for all she knew he could be asleep. He hadn't budged an inch since sitting down, and Kallen _knew_ he was remarkably good at sleeping in a seated position, considering his demonstrations in class. That was over half an hour ago. What was the point of this?

Tamaki grumbled, kicking a rock by his foot. "You gonna say somethin', Zero?" The masked man didn't so much as make a noise to acknowledge the question. This led the pissed-off Japanese man to kick another rock across the ground and declare, "Screw it, I'm fed up with your silence. I'm gettin' myself a drink."

"Shinichiro Tamaki," Zero's voice echoed inside of his helmet. He uncrossed his arms, standing up. His cape returned to its normal position of almost completely covering his body. "Before you go, I'd like you to answer this question: who is our enemy?"

…_What…? Why would you even…? Why ask _Tamaki _that question?_

Tamaki looked about as confused as the rest of them. "Wh-What d'ya mean, 'who's our enemy'? That supposed to be some sorta trick question?"

"No. Answer it truthfully."

There _had_ to be some point to this. Was Zero testing them for some reason…? But if that was the case, _why_? They'd all proved their worth in Shinjuku and Saitama… and he _clearly_ trusted her and Ohgi enough to show his face to.

"Then, Britannia, of course," Tamaki replied without hesitation. For once, they all agreed with him…

…except for Zero. He pressed his fingers to the side of his mask. "Britannia… that is such a vague answer. Do you mean the country itself? _All_ of its people? Just the military? The nobles and commoners? The Numbers who have no choice but to join the system?"

"Uh…"

Kallen herself had no idea how to answer the question. Zero just cast a whole other light on it, and she couldn't figure it out. The military and nobles? _Definitely_. They were the _worst_ of the racist pigs… but she couldn't ignore the fact that _she_ was a Britannian noble as well, along with Lelouch being a member of the royal family, exiled or no. The commoners? _Maybe._ They were all different, some racist and some extremely friendly towards the numbers—she saw _both_ sides of this at Ashford. The Numbers who joined the system? _Traitors_… but they had to if they wanted any semblance of life…

"By the fact that you cannot answer me, I say that you were wrong. Britannia is _not_ our enemy." Zero's fingers curled, like he was holding something with his palm facing up, before he extended his arm to the side, causing his cape to flutter in the process. "Our enemy… is all those who would oppress the powerless, regardless of their nationality!"

"B-But… we're just a resistance group…" Ohgi said.

"Wrong again," Zero replied. He stepped away from the chair, revealing a cardboard box behind him. He reached into it and pulled out… a jacket. A black one with an elevated collar, the sides of the collar and the shoulders grey instead of black. "If you choose to stay by my side, we will no longer be a mere resistance group. We will be called the Black Knights, knights for justice, and those who protect the weak from the strong!"

…_He's lost it. Knights for justice? It fits considering he wants world peace, but still… _"Why tell us this now, Zero? Why not when you first joined us, or before Saitama?" Kallen asked.

"Two reasons. One, I needed to be sure you truly trusted me. Two, the public knows very little about the truth behind Shinjuku and Saitama. I needed to find a very public situation to announce the Black Knights to the world, and I caught word of such earlier today. An event that would be nearly impossible for Britannia to keep silenced."

…_Earlier today? When? He was at school, and then the drive to the hospital to pick up Nunnally… When did he "catch word" of an event…?_ Kallen had no idea what to think at this point.

"This Saturday, a renegade faction of the Japanese Liberation Front led by Lieutenant Colonel Josui Kusakabe plans to take the occupants of the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center Hotel hostage in an attempt to bargain with Britannia. I plan to put a stop to this for, while some of the occupants will be the nobles who drain away Japan's Sakuradite resources, many of them will be no more than commoners. Students, even."

_Students… oh crap! Milly said something about a convention center…!_ "I have to go make a phone call right now!" she declared. _I'm not going to take crap from you now Milly—no way I'm letting you put us in danger, if that's the case!_

"Kallen Kozuki, I suggest you calm yourself," Zero said impassively, gesturing to the seat she'd just abandoned.

_Calm down?! How are _you _so calm! You just announced that a place we might end up going to is gonna become bait for Britannia! Your own _sister _could be one of them… not to mention _yourself_! Don't you care?!_ Of course, she could not say that aloud, not without revealing to the rest of her friends (not counting Ohgi) who Zero really was. She had to choose her words carefully… "No… it's… my friends from school want me to go with them on a trip with them on Saturday, and the trip includes the center you mentioned as one of its stops…"

"Kallen… do you trust me?"

"Yes, but—" _Not like this—not when it means putting innocent people at risk. Even with your Geass, I can't…!_

"Then trust me when I say your Britannian friends _will not be harmed_. I swear it on my life," Zero interrupted. Then _he_ proceeded to be interrupted by his own phone. He glanced at the screen, and immediately began leaving their hideout. "I have to take this… I will return tomorrow to explain the plan to those who wish to become members of the Black Knights."

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: …Eh, not one of my better chapters… I'm going to call it decent enough for now. …I really need to use C.C. some more though. I totally lampshaded the fact that I've been ignoring her near the end of the second scene… Mm, not to mention the minor characters deserve more screen time…**

**Ack, sorry, I've started rambling now. Last thing I have to say is **_**please**_ **review! Every time I get a review, it equals my muses getting a million times more motivated to write this story!**


	14. Stage 14: The Black Knights

_*****Thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, mcdinh, Ulrich362, OBSERVER01, MrtheratedG, Demons Anarchy of Pride, The Worldwalker, Republic (twelve times), 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Altair718, MM Browsing, asaxander740, and Jarjaxle, the thirteen people who reviewed the previous chapter, and EXTRA special thanks to Altair718 since they reviewed chapters four through twelve as well!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - The Worldwalker: You have the right idea… except it won't necessarily be Nunnally that Euphy recognizes. Heh. Read this chapter if you want to know exactly what ends up happening, obviously.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: …What would happen if Kallen became Zero's second-in-command instead of Ohgi? Hm. That's an interesting question… I really don't know. I feel like Kallen going around fighting in the Guren all day fits her a lot more than being second-in-command. But there **_**is** _**one thing that would **_**definitely** _**be somewhat better in that case: Kallen's definitely a lot more confident than Ohgi, so there'd at least be a bit of a morale boost. As for how that would change her relationship with Zero/Lelouch… I don't know.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: So… the hotel hijacking is now, along with the debut of the Black Knights. **_**Fun**_**. I don't have much to ramble about, so I'll just go ahead and start.**

**I don't own Code Geass, though!**

**Stage 14: The Black Knights**

He had the support of Kallen and the rest of her group. Z.Z. and S.S. had successfully procured themselves new masks, and also the disguises they would all need in order for his operation to work. If Euphy still ended up a hostage, or if Kusakabe ended up _not_ capturing the hotel, then he would have over prepared for nothing. Still, those plans needed to be in place in case of the worst, and it would be better to be safe than to be sorry.

_Especially if I'm casting Nunnally into the fray…_

And that fact was _exactly_ why Lelouch asked Sayoko to come with them. He trusted in his own power—he would not hesitate to use it if one of the JLF threatened Nunnally—but he had to be prepared for someone he could not make eye contact with for some various reason. He needed there a way for Nunnally to be safe, no matter what happened, and Sayoko was likely the only person he trusted for that role outside of Suzaku.

Thankfully, he hadn't needed to argue with Milly to allow the extra person to come; she had actually agreed wholeheartedly on the change.

The only thing he had left to do was resign himself to wearing the suit part of his costume underneath his normal clothes. It would all fit at least, but he expected to end up _dreadfully_ hot underneath all those layers. If only it was supposed to be a cold day…

He finished folding up Zero's cape, placing it in the bag he would pass off to Z.Z., and went to reach for his mask… only to discover it _wasn't_ where he had set it down after taking out the entirety of his costume. For a split second, he worried that Arthur had somehow made off with it again, but knew it was an impossibility and shot that idea away immediately.

No, it seemed that C.C. had chosen to take the Zero mask while he had not been paying attention. She reclined on his couch, tossing it up and down with one hand while she stared back at him. Lelouch swore he saw a slight smirk on the immortal's face while he glared at her. "Alright, you had the chance to hold my mask. I _do_ need it now, C.C., so give it back. Please."

"What would you do if I said no?"

Lelouch narrowed his eyes. He couldn't threaten to kill or hurt her; those sorts of threats meant nothing to C.C. But she did have one weakness… "I'd take away the credit card I gave you to buy pizza with."

C.C. stopped tossing the mask, instead letting it sit in her lap. "You would, would you? Hm… then I suppose I'll have to find someone else to buy me pizza…"

"I'm not joking, C.C. _Give me back my mask!_" If only he could Geass her… that would make getting back his mask _much_ less of a handful. "Why do even want it in the first place?"

"I wanted to get your attention, and it seemed that I did." Her finger traced the glass absentmindedly while she spoke. "I can't have you dying before you fulfil our contract, Lelouch. You put far too much trust in those two immortals…"

"Oh, are you jealous now?" he teased.

C.C. chuckled once. "Hardly. I just… can't quite place my finger on it. They both feel _off_ somehow…"

He nodded in agreement. He knew S.S. and Z.Z. were hiding something from them, but could never figure out _what_. Something about their actions always struck a chord with him… _What am I doing? She's distracted me from getting back my mask, damn witch!_ He held out his hand, towering over the seated woman. "C.C. The mask, now."

She looked up at him lazily, though her grip tightened on the mask. "You can't order me around, Lelouch, and I've decided that I want to have this mask."

His eye twitched, hands curling into fists even though he knew he would only succeed in hurting himself if he tried to punch C.C. _Why is she so insistent about this?_ "Look C.C., I'll make you your own if that's what you wish. I need that mask _right now_ or else Milly will get suspicious about what is taking me so long to get ready. Why don't you want me to have it?"

"Are you deaf? I said it's because I need you alive in order to fulfil our contract."

"And you think I'm going to die at Lake Kawaguchi?" He laughed at the thought. "I am prepared to use my Geass on anyone who would try to harm me… and Sayoko will be with us as well. Don't underestimate her ability to protect those whom she serves." He didn't think that would be enough to convince her, and that meant he had to play a certain card of his earlier than he would have liked. "Not only that, but once I establish the Black Knights as a fully functional group, I'll allow you to join its ranks. That way, you don't have to laze around in my room all day; instead, you can participate in the action _and_ make sure I stay alive."

"Hmm… a tempting offer…" She did not sound convinced.

_If I wasn't short on time, I would save this for another time… _"Then how about this? I'll allot a fraction of the Black Knights budget every month to buying you pizza. Certainly _that_ should please you."

He got his mask back after that.

* * *

For all of his over preparation, something Lelouch hadn't expected… ended up happening. Oh, he had expected Sayoko to pull out her kunais and use them to disarm—or kill—as many members of the JLF that would dare threaten them as she could. Lelouch had _not_ accounted for the fact that none of those Japanese soldiers wanted to fight her, much less want to kill her for fighting back. How he had not figured out she was the head of the Shinozaki clan, he had no idea.

No, what he had _not_ expected was the way Kusakabe decided to deal with Sayoko—he let her walk right out the front door of the center… with Nunnally. He at least had enough compassion to not want to traumatize a blind and crippled girl. This fact, while Lelouch had not expected it, worked for the better. As much as he hated to admit it, his sister was safer in Britannian hands than inside of the hotel.

And he had one less thing to worry about in the cramped food storage room.

"I'm Kusakabe of the Japan Liberation front. This stand we're taking is for the freedom of Japan! Even though you are not soldiers, you're still Britannians—the ones who rule and oppress us! Sit still, be quiet, and you'll be fine. If you don't…" He gestured to his soldiers' guns. With that, he took up his katana and left the storage room. Two soldiers stayed behind, keeping a close eye on the hostages.

Rivalz was to his left, staring at his hands while he twiddled his thumbs. Every once in a while he'd glance over at Milly, likely to see how she was doing. _Hopeless romantic…_ Shirley was to his right, with Kallen the other side of her. Both seemed to be panicking, though Shirley was the one who tried to hold onto his arm for comfort, and Kallen's fear was entirely fake… he hoped. There was always the chance that she was afraid of something backfiring…

No. Nothing would backfire. He'd prepared too much for that.

Of his friends, Milly was the only one who did not have fear written all over her. Granted, that might be because she was putting on a strong face for Nina. The poor girl who almost had to be _dragged_ along was on the verge of tears, quivering in Milly's arms.

…_Right, she's severely xenophobic. I wonder how she acted during the hotel hijacking in the previous worlds if she was a part of it…_

Hypothesizing about other worlds would serve him no good. He needed to be ready for whenever Z.Z. and S.S. were in position, and he had no idea how long that would take. They _were_ having to sneak around undetected—however they decided to pull that off—with a smoke bomb they could not let go off before they found this room…

When he was certain neither of the guards were watching him, Lelouch spared a glance at the hostages behind him. Most of them were adults, and the politicians that debated over Sakuradite, though there were several children even younger than Nunnally mixed in. He also saw the six other members of the Black Knights—Ohgi, Inoue, Yoshida, Minami, Sugiyama, and Tamaki—disguised as Britannians with the masks Z.Z. had bought two days ago, and scattered throughout the room. And, much to his dismay, he was able see Euphemia on the opposite side of the room as he. Even more so when she met his gaze for a fleeting moment.

_Shit… she saw me. Did she recognize me, though? It's a possibility… but unlikely. The whole world thinks that Lelouch vi Britannia is dead—Euphy is no exception to that. _He held in a sigh of frustration as he turned back around. _Looks like I could have "followed the script", so to speak. Oh well… this way is _far _more interesting._

* * *

_Of all the days to have to work…_

Suzaku watched the news disdainfully while he waited nearby Lake Kawaguchi. He hadn't received any orders from the Viceroy, but he was still on standby just in case. Suzaku _really_ did not want to be there, though; he wanted to be inside of the hotel because that way he could protect his friends from school… and Euphy. _But… where's Nunnally?_ In the video provided by the JLF showing off who they had hostage, he could not see her at all. Either she was somehow _not_ a hostage, or… _No. No, Nunnally _has _to be fine. Lelouch doesn't look much different from normal. He'd either look absolutely dead or have gone ballistic if something happened to her._

His phone rang, an abrupt shrill to drag him out of his thoughts. He checked the screen and froze—the caller ID read "Nunnally". After that split second of hesitation, he answered it. "Hello…?"

"_Oh, Suzaku, I know you're working right now but… but I just… Have you seen the news?"_ It was indeed Nunnally on the other end.

"Yeah, I'm watching it right now…" he replied. "Where are you, Nunnally?"

"_I-I'm not sure. They let Miss Sayoko and I go…"_ Nunnally paused for a moment; Suzaku still heard her voice, but it was too muffled to make out what she was actually saying. Maybe asking where they were…? "_Oh, okay. Suzaku, we're on the shore close by the woods… Miss Sayoko didn't want to risk me being found."_

It pained Suzaku to think that his two closest friends in the world constantly had to watch their backs… metaphorically speaking. "Alright then, stay there. I'll be over as soon as I can."

"_H-Huh? But I thought you were working…"_

"My superiors are still running the adjustments, and I can't do anything until they're done. They can deal with me talking a short break." He tried to sound light when he said that, but really couldn't. Not as long as the rest of his friends were in danger… and probably because Lloyd would have his head if his precious "devicer" was missing and orders came in to deploy Lancelot, not to mention the likelihood of him getting in extreme trouble if those orders _did_ come and he was not at his post. "I'll be over in a few minutes. See you, Nunnally."

"_Alright… see you soon."_

* * *

He figured out a possible answer to his earlier question of what the previous incarnations of Nina did in this situation after maybe an hour of being holed up in the storage room. The one guard circling the hostages stopped for a moment directly in front of Lelouch and his friends, bending down to scratch his ankle.

While the man did that, Nina scooted as far away as she could while whimpering, "A-An Eleven…"

That was clearly _not_ the right thing to say in a situation like this one. The man instantly had his gun pointed at her. "We're Japanese, not Elevens!" he snarled at her.

All the girl could do was make a muffled squeaking sound in response.

"Stop it! Can't you see that you're scaring her?"

_Milly. Of course you'd be the one trying to order the people who are holding us at gunpoint…_

The man kept his gun pointed at Nina, but his glare went to Milly. "You want me to stop, you better damn correct her or she'll be the first to go when we start offing all of you!"

"Fine! We'll correct her!" Shirley butted in, likely a little too forcefully.

_This is going nowhere a little too fast…_ Lelouch shifted his weight, ready to draw the JLF member's attention to himself. _I might have to use my Geass after all…_

A faint noise drew Lelouch's attention to the ceiling. At first, he thought it was nothing. Then the ceiling made the same noise again, only louder. The sound of metal slowly bending… _Oh for the love of…! They're climbing around in the ventilation system, aren't they? No wonder they took so long. It's an effective way to get around undetected, but it sounds like it's not holding up too well…_

About five seconds later, a section of the ceiling collapsed. While it did so, everyone screamed. Of course, most people _would_ scream if the ceiling collapsed in front of them. _Better than on top of them, at least._

"Th-The hell…?"

There were clearly two people inside of the wrecked tile and metal, covered in dust. The man sat up—_thank goodness Z.Z. isn't disguised as me yet_—blinked a few times, and rubbed the back of his head. "Whoops. I meant to make a much more dignified entrance…"

Instantly both of the JLF members had their guns pointed at the clearly Britannian man. The taller one demanded, "Who the hell are you? How'd you get in here?"

"Me? Oh, I don't matter all that much," Z.Z. said, still rubbing the back of his head; sheepishly now instead of trying to rub away pain. "Nope, not at all. I'm just another member of the Black Knights, after all. The one who _really_ matters here is Zero."

A collective murmur about Zero crossed through the hostages, though not long enough to do much of anything as Z.Z. proceeded to toss a device in the air. It exploded, releasing rose-colored smoke—enough to fill the entire room for at least ten seconds.

_You are so lucky that you landed near us, Z.Z. Though, I suppose _I'm _lucky that I ended up on one of the edges._ For that, Lelouch was thankful. He and Kallen didn't have to run over anything to get to the two immortals. From there, it was a matter of how quickly he could hand off his jacket to Z.Z. and receive his mask and cape in return, and how quickly S.S. could hand Kallen her visor and Black Knights' jacket. Yes, Z.Z. and S.S. would temporarily become Lelouch and Kallen, respectively…

_Just barely quick enough._

One of the JLF members, still coughing from the smoke, waved his gun in the direction of the masked man. "H-Hey, where'd they—_Zero_?!" The Japanese man's eyes widened upon seeing the masked hero.

Lelouch bowed to them all, noting the shared feelings of fear and hope amongst the hostages who stared up at him. "That would be correct… Now, if you would kindly take me to speak to Kusakabe, that would be much appreciated. Oh, but first…" He snapped his fingers, the hidden grin on his face growing as the Black Knights simultaneously tore off their disguises, two of them successfully disarming the JLF guards. "That is much better… I simply _abhor_ the abuse of power against those who cannot defend themselves. Q-1, you know what to do." _Free the hostages using the rafts, then plant the explosives in the foundation. Once I finish meeting with Kusakabe, we all board the yacht I obtained from that nobleman, and we make our proper debut to the world._

* * *

At first, the two guards from the food storage room were his completely unwilling escorts. Then Lelouch used his Geass on them, to make sure they didn't try anything, of course. It was after quite a bit of walking and one ride on the elevator that he was finally face-to-face with Kusakabe for the second time that day, though to the other man, this would be their first meeting.

"Zero? Well, this is an interesting surprise…" Kusakabe narrowed his eyes at the masked man. "Just how did you get in here?"

Lelouch chuckled. "I am a man of miracles." _Stage production and a great deal of planning._ "I see no reason to tell you how."

"Fair enough, Zero. I assume you've come here to offer me assistance? Come to some sort of agreement? Or perhaps… join the JLF?"

"Absolutely not," he replied harshly. "I cannot—_will_ not—condone actions where the strong oppress the weak." _Not to mention you're _not _doing this with the approval of the JLF, your arrogance irritates me, and I'd never do good serving underneath others—I am meant to lead._

Kusakabe's face instantly turned angry, and his grip tightened on his katana. "Where the strong oppress the weak, you say? But the Britannians are the "strong", we Japanese the "weak". This is not _oppression_—this is us fighting back _against_ our oppressors! Why don't you see this?"

_Such a narrow-minded way of thinking… _"All I see is a group of people armed to the teeth taking captive a group of innocent civilians who have no way of protecting themselves. And for what, to bargain for the release of several prisoners? Britannia does not bargain with _terrorists_, not even if you had the Emperor himself captive." _Not like _that _would ever become a situation in the first place._ "You claim to not be the oppressors in this situation, but all I see is a cowardly show of power designed to prove to the world that the Japan Liberation Front was not weak following the whirlwind my first public appearance caused."

"Tch…! I _knew_ I shouldn't have trusted you!" His katana fully drawn at that point, Kusakabe charged.

_Such a waste._ His mask slid open, and his eye burned as always. "_Die!"_

* * *

Still watching the news on his phone—though this time with Nunnally listening in—Suzaku felt the world freeze when the entire hotel exploded. _No… No… No…! Lelouch… Euphy… and the others…!_ He fell to his knees in the sand. _I failed them… I-I… we all failed them…_

"Suzaku, what's going on? What was that explosion?" Nunnally asked, feeling in the air for Suzaku's hand.

"That was… That was the…" He choked up. He couldn't bring himself to say it—that the hotel had gone up in flames with Lelouch still inside of it. That Nunnally was all alone now…

Suddenly, a voice boomed over the entirety of the lake, broadcast through some sort of microphone—and apparently through the news as well. Suzaku looked at his phone for the video—of Zero standing atop a yacht, seven people dressed entirely in black and with visors over their eyes standing behind him.

"_I am Zero!"_ the masked man spoke. "_Those of you watching this broadcast right now, you no longer need fear for those who were taken hostage inside the hotel—I rescued them before the explosion!"_

He could finally breathe again. His friends… were alright. He could see them in life rafts when the camera briefly panned to the water surrounding the yacht.

"_To everyone else, fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit! We are the Black Knights!"_

The… Black Knights…? Zero was largely regarded as a terrorist though… He would hardly be a _knight_…

"_We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons to wield… regardless of their nationality!"_

_So… you'll protect the citizens on both sides now?_ A smile tried to work its way onto Suzaku's face; Zero really _was_ going to hold up on his end of the bargain, the one about keeping civilians out of this. And he… _He saved my friends, too…_

"_This demonstration of force by the Japan Liberation Front against those innocent Britannian citizens was wanton and meaningless. They have been punished accordingly, just as former Viceroy Clovis was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Elevens. We cannot stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out! I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again, no matter how mighty or formidable our foe may be!"_

_Only the people who are prepared to die should be allowed to kill? Then does that mean _you're _prepared to die, Zero?_ Suzaku shook his head. No use thinking about that.

"_Those of you with power… fear us!"_ Zero threw out one arm. "_Those of you without it… rally behind us!" He threw out his other arm, cape fluttering in all of its glory. "We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!"_

* * *

Suzaku was not sure how to feel about this. On one hand, Zero had held up his end of the bargain and protected innocent civilians. And they were _Britannians_—his friends—to boot. He proclaimed himself and his group, the Black Knights, as allies of the weak and enemies of the strong. On the other hand, he'd given them all quite a scare by _blowing up the hotel_ without them knowing that the hostages had been freed.

A hand tugged at his own—Nunnally's. "Suzaku, do you see my brother yet?"

The hostages were all arriving on shore in groups, and Suzaku could not tell if Lelouch was still on one of the rafts or if he was already on dry ground. It was probably the former—Suzaku didn't doubt that Lelouch would immediately start hunting for Nunnally, and they were in a clear line of sight from what would be his perspective.

"No, not yet…" Suzaku trailed off when he saw a familiar sight of pink amongst the hostages. Euphy… and she was headed right for them. _Oh crap… what if she recognizes Nunnally?! Lelouch said that _none _of his half-siblings could know they were alive… not even Euphy._ He slipped his hand out of the crippled girl's grasp and made a frantic gesture towards Sayoko.

The maid somehow understood it, and started wheeling Nunnally away, telling her that she saw Lelouch somewhere else…

"Oh, Suzaku!" The pink-haired princess seemed… even happier than normal, though there were tears in her eyes. She'd even grabbed Suzaku by the hands and made him spin around. Why, though? Her life had just been in danger… It didn't seem like the JLF had figured out who she was, but still!

"What is it Euphy?"

"Lelouch is alive! I… It _had_ to be him! He… He looked _right at me_ and it just _has_ to be him! I would recognize those eyes anywhere!" She tried to dry her tears, but they just kept coming. "I… I always hoped… I mean, I know I saw their bodies, but… Ah! Does that mean Nunnally is alive too?! Oh, I hope so!"

_She… saw Lelouch? Then… I suppose I can't hide it anymore._ "You're right, Euphy. Lelouch and Nunnally… they're both alive. They've been hiding at Ashford Academy… I'm sorry I had to keep that a secret from you."

Euphy looked at him, completely still for a moment. She looked… almost betrayed. "You… knew…?" She shook her head before pulling Suzaku into a tight hug. "I don't care! I'm just… I'm so happy they're alright…"

"In other words, your wish was granted!" S.S. appeared behind Euphy—_from the shore; why was she down there if Zero was on that yacht that got away?_—her smile as bright as ever. It faded for a moment as she scratched her chin. "Well… _one_ of them, and only partially, but who really cares? Your precious half-siblings aren't dead!"

"Did you know they weren't—"

Suzaku cut Euphy off when he grabbed her arm, shaking his head while staring at the blonde woman, accomplice of Zero. "S.S., I'm afraid I have orders to bring you in for questioning. You can come with me willingly, or I'll have to arrest you…"

S.S. cocked her head to the side. "Do you really…? But isn't having your wish granted a lot better than asking me a bunch of lame questions?"

"They aren't lame, S.S. We know you're one of Zero's accomplices—just like your brother was—and Viceroy Cornelia wants to ask you what you know about him." _She also wants you executed once she thinks you've told her everything, but how am I supposed to say that?_

"About Zero?" She pouted, her arms folded over her chest. "Aw… but Big Brother told me not to say anything about him… much as I'd like to. He's a really awesome guy, just like Z.Z. is!"

…'_Is'…?_ Either S.S. had no idea that her brother was dead… or what Zero had said before was right—that Z.Z. really _wasn't_ dead. An impossibility like that, though… "I'm afraid you're going to have to answer the Viceroy's questions, regardless of what your brother said," Suzaku said.

"But Z.Z. said not to—" S.S. cut off her own protest. "Oh, dang it! You've gone and distracted me! I came over here to grant _your_ wish, Suzaku!" She paused, holding out a hand. For once, she looked entirely serious. "Or, to be more precise, I'm going to grant you the power to grant it yourself. A power called Geass…"

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2:**

**Oh yeah, I totally just went there. S.S.'s going to just keep causing a ton of trouble when she goes off on her own, isn't she?**

**Suzaku with a Geass though…**

**Please review! And you guys should keep leaving suggestions, too! MM Browsing inspired several bits of this chapter, so really **_**anyone**_ **can!**

_**Suggestion corner: So I feel like spreading the love around (seriously, this story has over 200 reviews and 8,000 views; I can spare the love), and I've decided to start suggesting stories for people to read, one story per chapter until I run out of stories to recommend. Some of these stories might already be extremely popular, others might be, well, not. Just like the one I am going to recommend now: "Code Geass: The Disowned Prince" by lilysmiya. She has only just started the story, and the chapters are rather short at the beginning, but I think that her story deserves some more attention.**_

…_**Also, shameless self-advertising here, but if you guys want to see **_**precisely** _**what I deal with when it comes to controlling my muses, you can go check out a one-shot I posted called "Muses". Trust me, you don't need to know **_**anything** _**about Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds to read it, it'll probably give you a good laugh, and it references this story like, a lot.**_

**Oh! I almost forgot! I'm trying to figure out what characters I can and cannot kill without having people quit reading my story and/or wanting to kill me because, you know, this is a Code Geass fanfiction… people kinda have to die. So when you guys leave a review this time… I'd like you to leave me a list of one to five characters you'd be perfectly fine with me killing off. I'd prefer it if you gave me people from both sides… oh, and don't say Charles, Luciano, or V.V. (I'm **_**pretty**_ **sure **_**no one**_ **wants **_**them**_ **alive). **


	15. Stage 15: Absolute Fate

_*****Thanks to BlackTyrantValvatorez, Republic (six times), mcdinh, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Ulrich362, asaxander, XT3100, yanivdani, MrtheratedG, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Mr. Indigo, Jarjaxle, OBSERVER01, Anonymous Person, MM Browsing, lifeswordpa, Guest, Altair718, and TrunksIzayaBossKadoDRRRotaku, the nineteen people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Okay then. Looks like I'm adding Kallen to the short list of characters I must NEVER kill off (Nunnally and Jeremiah were the only ones on it previously). And I thank you for the characters you submitted (unfortunately I have important plans for Schneizel so killing him as soon as possible is going to take awhile). Oh, and your idea for a Geass power is interesting… unfortunately, I've already come up with the perfect idea for Suzaku. I… might save that one for later (S.S.'s quite a bit of a spontaneous troublemaker…).**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Anonymous Person: You know, I actually went back through all of my author's notes to figure out when I promised to include a lot of plot twists. I'm glad you think they're good enough to catch you and the other readers off-guard! Thanks!**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Guest: Thanks for going out of your way to say you love my story, and I'll keep your suggestions in mind just like everyone else's.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Wow guys, thanks for the lists of characters I can kill off. There were several whom I expected, and then some I didn't. Then there are people with divided votes… Oh, and apparently some of you didn't pay attention because back in chapter 12 I definitely killed Kewell, and several of you requested that I kill him, and then I had like two people say Luciano despite me saying not to in the part where I was asking you guys about making the lists. *Laughs while shaking my head***

**Anyways, I'm really sorry this chapter took longer than my normal updates. It was less writer's block and more pouring all of my free time into **_**Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker**_ **(AMAZING game if any of you care to know).**

**So I don't own Code Geass, but you guys should still totally enjoy this.**

**Stage 15: Absolute Fate**

S.S. watched as her potential contractee's face turned from harboring wary suspicion to doubtful confusion. She should not have expected him to instantly know what Geass was—he wasn't like the Lelouch of this world, receiving enough fragments of other worlds—other lives—to piece together a working picture. That was probably why she almost pouted when Suzaku finally said, "…Geass?"

…_Oh… I don't know how to explain this properly…_ She had lived for so long, but only ever with her brother. She knew _of_ Geass, the power she could bestow upon others, but had never bothered to ask precisely how it worked. Never really cared to piece it all together—she had been content with living in C's World up until she had spontaneously decided to follow her brother to this world. She'd never had the chance to form a contract with anyone… _What exactly am I supposed to do? …Oh, Big Brother, how did you do it…?_

"Um… I-It's… " Why did her face feel like she'd just plunged the inside of it in boiling water? "Geass itself… isn't something I can explain. What I can say is… there are a few special people in the world… People who have the ability to sense those with strong enough wills to bear the power of Geass because they have something called a Code." _You're definitely one of those with a strong will, Suzaku. My Code draws me to you…_ _(And that was the only reason, right?)_ "I am one of those few with a Code, and you are someone with great willpower, Suzaku. I can create a contract with you—I give you Geass, and eventually, you have to grant me my greatest wish."

That was what Z.Z. said when laying out the terms, wasn't it? That the contractee had to grant their contractor's greatest wish? But she didn't _have_ a wish of her own…

Suzaku narrowed his eyes at her. "You still haven't said what this… power will do."

"Oh… well… that's because I don't know. The form it takes corresponds to the user's greatest wish… so I can only guess what sort of power you would end up with." _I'm failing miserably at this, aren't I?_ S.S. turned away from Suzaku, her eyes downcast. "I-I'm sorry… I didn't think this all the way through… If you say no, I won't blame you."

* * *

He was _going_ to say no. Being offered a mysterious power by S.S. that she couldn't even explain? Suzaku didn't think that could lead to anything but trouble. Besides, he hardly trusted the woman—for all he knew, her "greatest wish" that he would be bound to fulfil could be something like… like starting a genocide.

Just when he opened his mouth to speak, Euphy grabbed his arm. "Suzaku, wait. Think about it… You'll have the power to stop people from dying… and it's not like you _have_ to use it if you end up not liking it." The pink-haired woman turned towards S.S. for a moment. "You aren't _required_ to use the Geass power you're given, right S.S.?"

S.S. looked at Euphy like she had just suggested killing someone. "Well… it would kind of defeat the purpose of making the contract in the first place… but yeah, you can choose not to." She rubbed her chin, looking back at Suzaku. "It… yeah, it really would defeat the purpose. B-But at least you'd have the power in case you ever ended up in a situation where you'd need it, right?"

…_She has a point._ Maybe he had no idea _what_ power he'd end up with, but if it was based off of his greatest wish, it couldn't be anything but helpful, right? He could do so much _good_ with something like that. He let out a little sigh of defeat. "Alright, S.S. I'll… make the contract with you. But you _do_ still have to talk to Viceroy Cornelia."

"Yay!" She twirled in the air, a bright smile on her face. Then she immediately clamped a hand over her own mouth. "Ah… whoops. Didn't mean to shout, sorry." Her hand slipped down, but the smile was still there. "Okay then, Suzaku Kururugi! This next part might be a little… weird, but it's part of the formalities of creating the Geass Contract." And she took his hand.

The next thing Suzaku knew, he was falling through some strange world of blue… like an electrical terminal or something like that. Wait, he wasn't _falling_—he was being dragged down by tendrils of blue light wrapped around his wrists and ankles. _What is this?_

"_Suzaku Kururugi… you say you will accept my contract, and yet I must still lay out the terms."_

_S.S…? But where is her voice coming from?_

"_Geass will grant you unlimited possibilities, but it will also separate you from other humans. You will follow a different path than they; a completely different life. Misuse this power and you will live a life of eternal solitude…"_

The world of blue finally ended, and a massive influx of images appeared in front of him. It was only for a fleeting moment, but he could see someone with dark hair suspended in chains inside of some dark abyss… someone who looked almost like Lelouch… for some reason. The images disappeared, and the background changed to show… _Is that Jupiter? This is starting to make even _less _sense than before…_

"_Once again, by creating this contract with me, you must grant my one true wish in return once the time is right. With all of this in mind, will you still accept the Power of the King?"_

Power of the King? It had to be another name for Geass, though Suzaku was _far_ from a king. Still, he'd made up his mind already. "Yes, S.S.! I accept the terms of your contract!"

"_Heehee~! Thank you!"_

He blinked, dazed for a moment as he realized he was back on solid ground. Back on Earth, with Euphy and S.S. He wasn't holding the latter's hand anymore—was physical contact with her what caused that strange vision? "S.S, what was that?"

"Like I said, formalities and blah-blah," the blonde replied, happily rocking on her heels. "I dunno. What'd you see?"

Suzaku described what he'd seen while she was speaking to him, and while he was doing so, he realized that his left eye felt off. It wasn't like it was burning; no, it actually felt numb. So he stopped in the middle of describing what _might_ have been a Lelouch lookalike and concentrated. That was when his eye actually started burning. Not bad enough to make him scream in pain, but enough to make him cover his eye and grunt a little.

"Huh…? Suzaku, are you alright?" Euphy asked.

"Y-Yeah… I think." He didn't want to worry the princess, and lowered his hand. The moment he did so, he jumped nearly a foot in the air. _581._ The number was just… _floating_ over Euphy's head, emblazoned in the air in golden lettering surrounded by fiery red. "Wh-What the—?!"

S.S. clapped her hands together a few times, making some weird sort of squealing noise. "Oooh! So _that's_ your power!"

He snapped his head in her direction, gasping again when he saw _no_ number over _her_ head. "Wait, so you _do_ know what power I have?!"

"_Now_ I do," she replied. "It's the Power of Absolute Fate. Kinda misnamed, now that I think about it 'cause that makes it sound like there's no way to change their deaths, but there _obviously_ is. Ah, back to the point. The numbers you see over people's heads is how many days they have left to live, at some point on the day the countdown hits zero you'll have a vision of their death if the cause is unnatural, and you'll be able to stop it if you try hard enough. Oh, and you can't see a number over the head of someone with a Code because…" She paused for a moment, cocking her head to the side. "Ah, Code Bearers are immune to Geass, so of _course_ you wouldn't be able to see a number. Also, you can't stop a natural death—it just isn't done."

Suzaku covered his eye again, staring blankly at the ground beneath his feet. _So… I can see when and how the people around me die… and I can stop it…?_ A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. _Well, I _did _say I wanted to create a world where people didn't have to die._ Although the ability to see _when_ was still troublesome; why would Euphy have less than a year and a half to live when she was younger than him…? …Whatever the case was, he was _not_ going to let that happen. "I see… that makes sense. Thank you, S.S."

"You're very welcome, Suzaku!" she replied. "Oh, and… uh… I kinda have to do something like, right now. I promise I'll turn myself in for questioning… hmm… tomorrow. Is that alright?"

"I suppose." It really wasn't; he could end up in _extreme_ amounts of trouble should Cornelia find out he _willingly_ let her go… At least he was fairly certain Euphy wouldn't speak of this. Besides, she probably would have just slipped away like the last two times if he _had_ tried catching her. That… strange illusion she trapped him in for the "formalities" of the contract… it wouldn't surprise him if she could weaponize that ability when in danger. _This is going to take some getting used to…_

"N-Ngh!" Now it felt like someone had stabbed a knife through his left eye. Was this a side effect of his Geass? G-God, it hurt…

_Blink._

Suddenly he was no longer standing next to Euphy. Instead, in what made even less sense than everything he'd just gone through, he was floating over a separate part of the shore. More specifically, only a small circle of it was visible, with Lelouch knelt down in front of Nunnally as he reassured her that he was fine. Their maid, Sayoko, stood behind her wheelchair.

Then a fourth person ran into view. At first, he seemed like some man with his hood pulled up… then he shouted something, ripped off the hood revealing he was Japanese, and pulled out a gun, aiming it at… Well, Suzaku was fairly certain it was at Sayoko and not Lelouch or Nunnally, but that did not stop him from screaming.

Suddenly, Sayoko had a kunai in her hand, and what seemed like less than a second later it was in the would-be assailant's throat. Everything _looked_ like it would be fine, except for the fact that the man stumbled back a little and still managed to pull the trigger of his gun before collapsing, and the bullet went through Nunnally's forehead.

_Blink._

"—kay, Suzaku?"

_Nunnally!_ He scrambled to his feet, half-screaming an apology to Euphy for practically shoving her to the ground when he had done so, and frantically looking around for where ever Nunnally was. There was _no way_ he was going to let her die today!

…There! Down by where the rafts from the hotel had landed! It didn't look like Lelouch had gone far away from the water before meeting up with Nunnally. Suza also saw the vengeful man from his vision—he had no time to waste.

* * *

It seemed no one suspected a thing when it came to Z.Z. masquerading as Lelouch. Not even Nunnally had figured it out, for reasons he just could not figure out. She was not like the others, where his voice and face would be enough to fool them. No, she had to be up close and personal, hugging him tightly, holding his hand.

_Oh, whatever._

His eyes widened when he felt a surge of power nearby. Power from a Code; his _sister's_ Code. Power that shifted to Suzaku?

Z.Z. had to hide the consequential smirk. _S.S., you conniving little girl. You have no idea what you've done, have you? Though, Suzaku with a Geass—and that of Absolute Fate at that—will be _quite _entertaining. I suppose you _do _take after me. And to think I just needed to bring you along for you to show off that side…_

"Is something wrong, Big Brother?" Nunnally asked.

"No, everything's alright," he replied, playing the role he was suposed to.

Except for the fact that it was not because Suzaku came charging down from wherever he'd been with S.S., screaming like some kind of maniac. _Did he already have a vision? And if so, whose death did he see?_ Z.Z thought, standing up and narrowing his eyes at the charging teenager. _This will be interesting._

Based on his line of sight, Suzaku's target seemed to be a man in casual clothing, but with his hood pulled over his head. The sleeves of his jacket seemed a bit too long—though for being in the middle of August, the fact that he was wearing a jacket seemed quite suspicious. Z.Z. noticed the tip of something black sticking out from one of the sleeves. A gun? Then he intended to kill one of them and _that_ was what Suzaku saw.

Well _this_ was certainly something new.

* * *

Before anyone else could react, Suzaku tackled the man, knocking the gun clear out of his reach while the man's identity was revealed to the world; a remnant of the JLF faction that had just been killed inside of the hotel.

"_Dammit! Get off of me, traitor!"_ the man screamed in Japanese.

"_No! I will _not _allow mindless murder, especially when the target is one of my friends!"_ Suzaku gritted his teeth; he had not spoken in his native tongue in so long.

"_Mindless murder? Don't make me laugh! That woman killed my brother—if anyone conducted mindless murder, it was her!"_

Suzaku hesitated, glancing over his shoulder at Sayoko. The man could not be telling the truth. If Sayoko killed anyone, wouldn't it have been in protecting Lelouch and Nunnally? That would certainly make it _not_ mindless murder. It was still murder, though, and who truly had the right to take someone's life?

Sensing his hesitation, the maid stepped out from behind Nunnally's wheelchair, returning the kunais in each of her hands to wherever it was that she stored them on her person. "Allow me to take care of him," she said.

…Well, he _had_ achieved what he wanted. Nunnally was safe; her number changed from 0 to 581 right before his eyes—he would have to wonder why her number and Euphy's were now the same later—and he wasn't sure how long he'd keep up the nerve to keep this man pinned down. Not to mention the fact that he did not have handcuffs or anything like that, and he'd probably be rushed back to Lloyd if he went to hand the man over to authorities. Not that he _wanted_ to continue disobeying protocol, but Suzaku needed a chance to talk to all of his friends first.

So he handed the Japanese man over to Sayoko, brushing the sand off of his clothes while he stood up. He turned back to face Nunnally and Lelouch, reassured himself that Nunnally's number _had_ changed, and asked, "How are you doing, Lelouch?"

The black-haired teenager remained silent, and at first Suzaku thought it was because he somehow hadn't heard the question, but he quickly realized that probably was not the case. Lelouch was staring straight at Suzaku with the cold, calculating look he usually made when playing chess. It was… different, though. There was a hint of something—excitement?—deep in his eyes, and it looked like he could break into a triumphant smirk any moment now. And then Suzaku paled when he realized something that should have been obvious: there was no number floating over Lelouch's head, and if the dull throb in his eye was anything to go by, he hadn't turned off his Geass yet.

_There should be a number. Why isn't there?_

"I'm alright, all things considered," Lelouch suddenly said, the strange look on his face gone. "But what about you, Suzaku? You've suddenly gone pale… and if I didn't know any better, I would say your left eye is glowing."

_G-Glowing? That would have been something helpful to know!_ Suzaku quickly turned off his Geass; everything that was happening was enough to give him a headache. "Uh… yeah. I'm… I just saw something surprising behind you." Not _technically_ a lie; Euphy was headed straight for them now, and Lelouch was probably going to kill him for telling her that he and Nunnally were alive.

"Oh…?" Lelouch glanced over his shoulder. He must have spotted Euphy because he immediately turned back around, a hand on his sister's shoulder. "I see… Nunnally, we have to go now."

"Huh? Alright, Big Brother… Bye Suzaku."

There went the possibility of the Lelouch standing in front of him being a fake. It was easy to look and sound like someone, but Nunnally recognized people through touch and sound, not sight and sound. And Lelouch was not wearing gloves or anything that would make his hands different than normal. Did that mean he was really a Code Bearer… whatever that meant? Suzaku wished he knew.

_Now then… where are my other friends?_

* * *

It was not until well past two in the morning that the real Kallen and Lelouch were able to return to their homes. Or, in Lelouch's case, his room at Ashford Academy. He was glad to finally be out of the costume he had worn all day, and made a mental note to have it dry cleaned as soon as possible (using Geass on those at the drycleaners, of course). As he had expected, Z.Z. and S.S. were waiting in his room, sitting on the couch while C.C. watched them both from her perch on his bed.

"…and that's how it works," Z.Z. finished with an annoyed sigh. "Honestly S.S… why didn't you ask _before_ you went ahead and forged the contract with Suzaku?"

_Wait. Contract? Suzaku? But that would mean…_ "What were you talking about just now?" Lelouch demanded.

"For apparently being much older than I am, S.S. did not know how Geass worked," C.C. answered him.

"H-Hey! I just… didn't need to know so I didn't ask! That's all!" the other girl cried, clearly not happy that her intelligence was being attacked.

Lelouch glared at S.S. "Then you gave Suzaku Geass… without being able to properly explain it?"

"…Maybe…" She buried her head behind her brother and continued to say something—whatever it was, Lelouch could not hear.

"That would be yes," Z.Z. said, shifting his weight to make having his sister's face burrowing into his back more comfortable. "I saw it myself. Don't worry, I told her she shouldn't hand it out on a whim. …On a slightly related note, S.S. told Suzaku she was going to turn herself in for questioning in exchange for creating the contract. Also, your half-sister Euphemia knows you and Nunnally are alive."

Great. Not only did S.S. give his friend Geass—he had yet to see if that was for better or worse—but she was also going to go to Cornelia for questioning. Why would she even _think_ of doing that. And Euphy… she must have figured out that _he_ was alive at least, so he wouldn't blame anyone but himself for that, but Nunnally? She hadn't seen Nunnally.

Lelouch took a deep breath; he had to keep his cool.

And then he told them how to handle this situation.

* * *

The next day, Suzaku was rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stay awake (on top of having coffee). He hadn't slept well, too occupied thinking about his power and what he had seen with it. Nunnally and Euphy now having the same number over their heads. Lelouch lacking one. When he'd dared to turn his Geass back on just to see the numbers that belonged to the other members of the student council; Nina with 557, Milly with 22,265 (he could assume that at least _one_ of his friends had a natural death in store), Shirley with 581—that number again—Rivalz with a shockingly low _20_ (Suzaku would _definitely_ be changing that), and Kallen with… nothing, just like Lelouch.

Right now though, he was thinking about what he'd seen that morning. He was certain that there was just… something wrong, so when he had seen Lelouch earlier, he'd checked his number again. Except he didn't have just _one_ number—no, for some reason Lelouch had _two_. 48 and 582—today that would be two more than the number Shirley, Nunnally, and Euphy shared, which would have gone down to 580).

S.S. hadn't told him _anything_ about someone possessing _two_ numbers.

Lucky for him, S.S. was in interrogation right now—and was apparently refusing to say much of anything until Suzaku was there with Cornelia. All she'd revealed so far was that her name was _definitely_ S.S., and her brother wasn't dead.

He walked into the room just as the girl was finishing a tangent about how delicious chocolate ice cream was, a smile on her face that he doubted anyone else ever had when in her position. She was in prisoner's clothes after all, that white straightjacket made heavy by its many buckles and zippers, and there was dried blood crusted over the left side of her face and mixed into her hair. He couldn't see a wound, though.

"Suzaku! You came!" If it was possible, her smile grew even wider at the sight of him.

"About time, Warrant Officer Kururugi," Viceroy Cornelia said, lowering the hand she had been rubbing her temple with to rest on the table.

Suzaku looked between the two, decided he was going to remain standing, and settled his gaze on S.S. It was probably better that he didn't make any mention of what happened yesterday, at least not at first. "Hello, S.S. Is there some reason you needed me here in order to talk to the Viceroy? I'm not a lawyer, just another officer in the military."

She stared at him for a moment, contemplating her answer. "Hmm… not really. But you're a lot easier to talk to than Miss 'I'm-going-to-shove-a-bayonet-in-your-face' over there." Her eyes flicked towards Cornelia since she couldn't gesture with her hands.

Cornelia slammed her fists on the table in front of her, hard enough to leave two identical dents in it. "Listen to me, S.S., if that is really your name, you _will_ quit disrespecting me or I will—"

"Have me executed? But then you wouldn't get the answers you want," S.S. said innocently.

"S.S., stop it," Suzaku interjected before Cornelia could _really_ blow her top off. "You aren't gaining anything by this. Just answer Viceroy Cornelia's questions, and… you'll be done." Meaning thrown into a jail cell, likely with an execution date.

"Oh, okay then!"

She told them a lot. Probably not everything, but certainly enough to piece together some form of the truth. She followed Zero not because of his ideals but because her older brother followed him—S.S. actually detested violence of any kind even if she _was_ "defending" the innocent. Z.Z. survived being shot so many times because he was "very hard to kill" in S.S.'s words. The same went for her—it was apparently a common thing amongst Code Bearers. She wouldn't say much about the Code though—or about Geass—because apparently the answers were hidden inside of the thing called Code R. Judging by the look on Cornelia's face, she hadn't found anything about it yet.

The most interesting thing she said, though, was that Zero was not an Eleven, he was Britannian. She would not say what the man really looked like, just that they had assumed wrong on his ethnicity. She vehemently defended this as the truth, that the man behind the mask hated Britannia just as much as the people they oppressed. It did not look like the Viceroy believed her words.

Near the end of the interrogation, Suzaku thought it would be best if he saw how many days Cornelia had left to live. Just to be safe. He regretted the decision immediately, the number shocking him so much that he missed whatever else S.S. had to say.

According to his Geass, Cornelia only had five days left to live until either she died naturally (unlikely) or… got into some sort of accident (even more unlikely).

He would… He _had_ to change that number over her head, but how? What was it that was supposed to kill the Witch of Britannia in just five days?

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: Yes, this all just happened because S.S. is a very, very naïve girl. And yes, the fact that Euphy, Shirley, and Nunnally all have the same number and one of Lelouch's is two numbers higher is obviously going to be very important, though not for quite awhile. Oh, and before any of you ask I am **_**not**_ **killing Cornelia next chapter. Her death is supposed to occur during the battle of Narita (according to the wiki there's an even shorter amount of time between the hotel hijacking and said battle, so I added a couple days), but I have to do the Refrain bust first. **_**Obviously**_**.**

…**And the idea for Suzaku's Geass power is **_**definitely**_ **because of my recent obsession with the **_**Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor**_ **games (it is essentially a combination of the Death Clock without a seven day limit from the first game and the death videos from the second). The name was the best I could come up with, though it clearly had to be lampshaded too.**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you leave a review!**

**Oh, and I think I'm going to ask a question every chapter to get some feedback. This time the question is, if I gave anyone else a Geass, who would you like to see have one and what would you want it to be?**


	16. Stage 16: Hidden Behind Masks

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, yanivdani, Demons Anarchy of Pride, mcdinh, BlackTyrantValvatorez, MrtheratedG, OBSERVER01, Republic (six times), 1000 Cherry Blossoms, lifeswordpa, Matsukaze Tenma, Jarjaxle, The Worldwalker, MM Browsing, Storm Wolf77415, and Guest, the sixteen the previous chapter, and naruxxsaku20, who reviewed chapter 12!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: I'll keep all of that information in mind. As for whether Kallen/Lelouch becomes a thing, I'll tell you what I told naruxxsaku20: I'm not going to say yes, I'm going to say it's a possibility. Because if I said yes, then my muses would have no chance to change their minds and they kind of like to do that a lot.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - The Worldwalker: I wasn't able to fit it in this chapter, but I intend to have a scene about Cornelia's thoughts on the interrogation soon. Don't worry, you'll see exactly what she wants to believe soon enough.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Guest: …Interesting Geass power, but I'll keep it in mind.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: So I'm going on vacation to visit family in New York for a week starting tomorrow and won't be able to write. What better to do than update right before I go? (It is also _totally_ not to celebrate the fact that this story passed 10,000 views.)**

**Seriously though, this chapter might be a little weird at parts. And by that, I mean weird foreshadowing. Gonna apologize ahead of time for that.**

**I don't own Code Geass. Enjoy!**

**Stage 16: Hidden Behind Masks**

Kallen was glad that it was Sunday now, and did not have to go to school. If staying up until well past two in the morning was going to become a regular thing for the Black Knights, she was probably going to take up the art of sleeping during class. Probably—no, _definitely_—during history since she hated that class anyways. And considering what Zero had told them before they were all dismissed after their public debut, late nights sounded like they would be the norm. He'd said that they had Sunday off while he prepared for their next operation, whatever it might be.

But that wasn't what was on Kallen's mind at the moment. What she was thinking about was what Zero told her right before they'd gone their separate ways. "_I suggest keeping a close eye on your mother, Q-1."_

What was _that_ supposed to mean? A close eye on her mother? She blanched at the thought. All _she_ was good for was a harsh reminder of everything the Japanese lost in the war. A pathetic woman who would not let go of the past. Utterly useless. Kallen did _not_ want to keep a close eye on her.

_What does he even know about her? Is Lelouch some sort of stalker?_ The redhead rolled over in her bed, her groan muffled by her pillow. _No, that's just stupid… but I can't deny the fact that he always seems to know things that he shouldn't._ So then maybe there _was_ something up with her mother that she hadn't noticed. What exactly that was, she was determined to find out.

No matter how much she hated that woman.

It was that determination that led Kallen to her mother's bedroom during her lunch break. It was… strange. She'd never bothered to go to the servants' quarters before, much less in the middle of the day when everyone should be eating lunch.

She didn't hesitate to knock, and waited patiently for an answer. There was none. Was her mother even in there? But the other servants said she spent her lunch breaks in her room. Where else would she be? Kallen was about to go searching when she heard a voice from inside. It was muffled and sounded _nothing_ like "Come in" or some variation of that. No, it sounded gentle, like a mother who actually cared about her children and was speaking to them.

_Mother…_

The redhead opened the door to the room and froze, staring in horror at the sight inside of it. A gun-like machine with an empty vial attached to it lay abandoned on the bed, and her mother's eyes had dulled. She had her arms out, trying to run after some invisible child. "Careful! You shouldn't run like that," she said.

Refrain. Her mother was using Refrain. How could she stoop even lower than she already had?!

"Really now, Naoto! You need to keep an eye on your little sister!"

Kallen flinched, closing her eyes and stepping back. _My god, Mother, how weak of a woman are you? First you give into Britannia, then to a man, and now this! You just can't let go of the past, huh?_ "Well here's a newsflash for you, Mother! Naoto's dead, and Father left you for another woman!"

If her mother even heard her outburst, Kallen could not tell. The brunette only continued to speak to the illusions brought on by the drug. "There, there, Kallen. There's no need to cry. I'm here for you… like I always will be."

_Huh?!_

Was that it…? Had she been wrong the whole time? Her mother hadn't stayed because she longed for the past, but because she wanted to stay by her side? That… that couldn't be… She had to be talking to the Kallen in her hallucinations!

"_I suggest keeping a close eye on your mother, Q-1."_

No… No way. Zero—_Lelouch_—had known about this. Known that her mother was taking Refrain. And maybe… Maybe he thought that her mother actually _cared_ about her. But that was impossible… how could he know?

_Mother… I'm sorry._

* * *

Darkness. It felt like that was all she knew. What few memories she still held onto were only snippets of speech. …No, that wasn't quite right. She remembered the faces of two—_or was it three?_—people. A young man with black hair that perfectly framed his face, and vivid amethyst eyes. He was… royalty. She couldn't remember for what country. And the other young man she remembered—curly brown hair, emerald eyes, tan skin—he was the other man's friend.

Then there was the mask. It was black, spiked in the back, purple glass set to cover the wearer's face. Somehow she knew that mask did not belong to any one person—and that it belonged both of the men in her fragmented mind. That was, of course, if those were her actual memories.

She couldn't tell the difference either way. She couldn't so much as remember her own name. But maybe that would all change soon. She saw the light in front of her—at long last, an end to the darkness! A smile grew on her face as she took the last few steps to it. Freedom was finally hers to have…

…except, as it turned out, freedom from the darkness was not so free at all.

Her first glimpse of the world beyond the light was of a woman with long, purple hair and similar colored eyes glaring down at her. She was saying something, but the nameless girl could not hear what it was. Her attention had changed to the other occupant in the small room—the brown-haired young man from her memories. He was _real_. Shocked by something, and his left eye glowed red with some sort of symbol inside of it, but who else could it be?

She tried to reach out for him and discovered that her arms—no, her entire body—was bound in white. A straightjacket, she was pretty sure that's what they were called. But how…? She'd only just made it out of the darkness… How was she already trapped?

The scary purple-haired woman slammed her fist on the table, attracting her attention again. All the nameless girl could do was stare at her in fear. "Well? I don't care what your orders were. Tell me who the person is underneath the mask of Zero, and I might give you a few extra days to live."

_Zero…?_ Was that the name of the mask from her memories? But if that was the case, why didn't the woman know that the man sitting next to her was one of its wearers? Something was wrong. Very wrong. This wasn't what she wanted—but she didn't exactly want back in the darkness, either. "I don't… know what you're… talking about," she managed to get out. Her words were sluggish from not having spoken in _she had no idea how long_, but her voice was not raw. "I… I don't know what's… going on. Who _are… _you people?"

Amidst the frantic thoughts questioning why the purple-haired woman had it out for her, a name came to the nameless woman. _Suzaku._ That was the name that belonged to the young man in the _interrogation_ room. The man from her memories. _Suzaku Kururugi._

She would never be able to voice this newfound realization as her hearing had started fading again. The angry shouts of whoever the scary lady was were almost silent now, and she could see darkness creeping at the edge of her vision. Then she felt the chains dragging her back to the world she had escaped.

_No._

_No!_

_I don't want to go back there!_

_Please! Someone… anyone… help me! _

But it was too late. The chains had already overtaken her, returning her to her prison of empty memories…

* * *

S.S.'s sudden outburst of confusion brought Suzaku back to Earth, and he quickly turned off his Geass. The thoughts of saving the Viceroy would have to wait. Why in the world was S.S. suddenly in confusion? She had to be faking it. A way to dodge something that Cornelia asked, no doubt.

One look at her and he could tell she was either a very, very good liar, or was honestly telling the truth. That half-playful, half-serious attitude was gone completely; now the blonde cowered in her chair, her eyes mimicking the intensity of her fear. And she wouldn't stop blinking, her eyes straining in the light.

On the other hand, Cornelia obviously thought it was a farce, laughing slightly. "You think I'm going to fall for this trick, S.S.? This is _not_ my first interrogation. Cut the act or I cut _you_."

"A-Act?" the girl whimpered. "I don't know what that means. A-And… is S.S. my name?" She shook her head, eyes squeezed shut. "No… No, that doesn't sound familiar at all, and what sort of name is 'S.S.'?"

That settled it. There was no way she was faking it. She'd insisted so much that her name was S.S. earlier, and no one faked extreme terror _this_ well. She was even making some sort of high-pitched noise in the back of her throat…

Up until her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she flopped onto the table in front of her, unconscious.

_What the _hell _just happened here?!_

* * *

"Nunnally, I can't seem to get this to fold right…"

"Ah? Let me have it," she replied, the faintest of smiles on her face. She'd always wanted to teach her older brother how to fold a paper crane, and now that they were effectively under self-imposed house arrest, she had all the time in the world to do so. She didn't like the reason for that—staying away from the other students because apparently becoming hostages and showing up on national television meant the student council was famous—but any excuse to spend more time with Lelouch after _that_ was good enough for her.

If she was honest with herself, she was still extremely worried that he was going to get killed one day…

She felt Lelouch place his half-finished origami in her palm, and touched it with her other hand. Realizing the fold he was on, she nodded slightly. It was probably the hardest step, the final one of making the bird base. "Oh, try folding it again along the—"

"_I don't want to go back there!"_

The voice was faint, but Nunnally still heard it, loud enough for her stop in the middle of talking to Lelouch and strain her ears to hear it.

"_Please! Someone… anyone… help me!"_

A cry for help? Nunnally certainly wanted to help whoever it was, but what could she do? She had no idea who was in trouble, or where they were, and wasn't exactly the best person to ask for help. "Big Brother, who was that?"

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

"I heard a girl crying out for help." Nunnally frowned. "You didn't hear her?"

There was a pause, and Nunnally wasn't sure if it was because her brother was planning to lie to her or if he was trying not to hurt her feelings by saying no. A short sigh escaped his lips. "No, Nunnally. I didn't hear anyone."

_Then I… I must just be hearing things._

Sensing his sister's despair, Lelouch grabbed her hand. "That doesn't mean she doesn't exist," he said. "Why don't we go look for this mysterious girl?"

* * *

While he was the one who suggested looking for whoever it was that Nunnally heard, Lelouch wasn't sure he _actually_ wanted to do that. He couldn't imagine she was _lying_, but he definitely had _not_ heard anyone cry for help. Still, it was time spent with his little sister. No matter what was actually happening, he'd always be happy with her by his side.

And maybe he could stop obsessing over the 'what ifs' that had been flowing through his mind since finding out Euphy knew they were alive _and_ living here at Ashford Academy.

No one surprising inside of the clubhouse. Just the rest of the student council (sans Suzaku), with Sayoko standing guard at the front door to make sure the crowds of "concerned" students didn't make their way inside. If the voice was real, then she had to be outside.

The two siblings made their way to the back door of the clubhouse. At least that door wasn't surrounded by a herd of their "fans". Although while that was true, there _was_ someone there, trying to get in. Kallen, seemingly in her sickly Britannian persona, was just about to make her way in through that door. Her eyes gave away that this was fake; they were half-filled with worry and half-filled with anger.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes at the redhead. _I said something about her mother yesterday—technically earlier this morning. Did she follow through on that warning, then? It would explain why she's worried. But then why is she angry?_

"Oh, Lelouch. You're actually the one I wanted to talk to," Kallen said quietly, keeping in line with her persona. It was almost unsettling. "I tried calling you a few times, but you didn't answer."

"I must have left my phone somewhere, sorry," he replied. "So what was it you needed me for?"

Her eyes hardened as her gaze fell to Nunnally. Clearly it was something to do with Zero, not Lelouch. He nodded slightly in understanding, kneeling down to Nunnally's side. "Nunnally, I have to talk to Kallen for a little. Do you mind if we push off the search for the voice?"

The sandy-haired girl frowned slightly, her brow furrowed. "But… but she was crying for help…"

"What's this about a voice?" Kallen asked.

"I heard someone cry for help, and we were trying to find out who it was," Nunnally said.

"Obviously we aren't having much luck with that," Lelouch added. _Maybe Nunnally really _was _just hearing things…_ "You see or hear anything suspicious on your way over here, Kallen?"

"Nope."

Nunnally let out a disappointed sigh before grabbing her brother's hand. "Please don't take too long talking, Big Brother."

"I understand." He kissed her forehead.

Once Nunnally had left, Lelouch stepped outside. It was nice to finally have an excuse to leave the clubhouse—to talk to Kallen. "Well then. What exactly did you want, Kallen?"

He did _not_ expect what happened next, which consisted of the redhead snapping back to her real side, spinning him around, and pinning him to the wall by twisting his arm nearly out of its socket.

"How did you know my mother was using Refrain?!" she hissed in his ear.

…_Ah. Of course she would make that connection._ It would be so easy to tell her the truth—that he'd seen it in a nightmare that happened to involve a completely different world, and made the assumption that it would be the same here, as most everything _was_ the same. But… there was something that kept him from doing so. Nunnally and Suzaku were the only non-immortals who knew about his dreams, and even then they knew anything but the full truth. He settled for silence.

Wrong choice. She twisted his arm even further. "Well, Lelouch? Answer me!"

"Ngh… I-I…" _My goodness it is not good to be on the receiving end of Kallen Kozuki's wrath._ "There are things I still want to keep secret, Kallen. And no, dislocating my shoulder will _not_ change my mind."

She let him go, her arms folding over her chest while she decided to glare at him. "Secrets? You mean something even _bigger_ than having the power to _mind control people_?! Hmph."

Lelouch massaged his shoulder with his opposite hand. "Yes, bigger than my Geass." _Much, much bigger._ "I'm sorry Kallen. It's not that I don't trust you, it's that… I simply can't talk about it." Why was that, though? It came naturally to his thoughts and when he was talking to his Code Bearing accomplices. Now his stomach had twisted itself into metaphorical knots and likely would not stop until the topic changed.

The glare lessened, but only slightly. "Fine. But you _better_ fess up the truth at some point."

"I will," he promised. "In any case, how is your mother doing?"

At that, Kallen looked away. "She's… fine, all things considered. Unconscious in the hospital at the moment and she'll definitely be serving time once she's released, but fine."

"That's a good thing then. I would hate to see you lose your mother when you very well could have saved her."

"Hmph."

_Maybe I can calm her down a little bit…?_ "Kallen, you should know that the Black Knights' next mission is to take down the Refrain smuggling rings."

* * *

Kallen was fuming. Silently, of course, since she didn't want to push her luck after pretty much assaulting Lelouch and was currently walking home alone. It was just… the way he nonchalantly asked her what she wanted to talk about pissed her off. Then the fact that he wouldn't say how he knew about her mother. _Ugh! It's like he _wants _to get under my skin. Why does he _have _to dodge the question or give cryptic as hell answers?_

Okay. _Maybe_ the fact that they were going to take down the smuggling rings made her a little happier, but that didn't make his actions excusable by any means!

It was clearly _not_ for the best that a pissed-off Kallen ended up in a certain plaza where a gang of five Britannians were beating the living shit out of a man who happened to be Japanese. She stopped, surveying the surroundings of the scene. A few other Britannians watching on, some snickering, some trying to ignore it but still watching anyways. Then there was a strange blonde-haired girl standing behind an empty wheelchair, some strange pair of goggles obscuring her eyes. The rest of her body language showed that she was scared for someone. The Japanese man getting beat up? She couldn't quite see the man, but by the way he moved it wouldn't be farfetched to assume he was supposed to be the occupant of the wheelchair.

"Hey you!" she called at the five bastards deciding to make a punching bag (or kicking bag) out of a crippled man. "Why don't you idiots leave him alone?!"

The gang of Britannians stopped immediately, turning their attention on her. The first guy, clearly the leader, took a step closer to her, sizing her up with his cruel brown eyes. "You some kinda Eleven sympathizer, girl?"

"And what if I am?" Kallen replied, shooting a harsh glare at him—much stronger than the one she'd given Lelouch not even ten minutes ago. "They're people just like you and me. Would you go beating up one of your friends?"

The five of them burst into laughter, as though they couldn't even take that thought seriously.

"Hah, you must be an idiot, girl. The Numbers are _nothing_ like us," the head goon said. His hands were curled into fists. There was going to be a fight here real soon. One Kallen intended to win.

Except for the fact that Lelouch showed up behind her, stopping her from lunging forward while asking the goons, "Aren't you tired of beating up Elevens?"

The five exchanged looks, shrugging.

"Eh, this _is_ getting pretty boring…"

"Let's go to the arcade!"

"Maybe I'll get the highscore this time…"

Kallen watched them leave. Her anger hadn't subsided, but she knew that Lelouch had used his Geass to send them off. She shot him a look, "Why'd you come here?"

He held out a small keychain, one that she immediately snatched out of his hands. "That fell out of your pocket. And if that's all you wanted, I'll see you at school tomorrow."

She still _definitely_ wanted to argue with him, to see if she could still get the answers she wanted. Instead she shook her head, looking back at the man who she'd just tried to protect. A nearby hot dog vendor—also Japanese—and the strange blonde girl had helped him back into his wheelchair. There was some sort of sketchbook in his arms, dirty and torn likely from the scuffle. He had blonde hair, but was still definitely Japanese based on his facial features. So… either he dyed his hair, was a half-breed, or both.

"Hey… are you alright?" Kallen asked.

He looked up at her with blue eyes she _swore_ she'd seen before, suddenly appearing younger than he probably was. "Y-Yes… thank you for standing up for me, miss."

"I didn't know there were still Britannians like you," the girl added. "Thanks for saving my brother."

_Half-breeds, then, if they're supposed to be siblings. Ones who can't pass for Britannian like me, and clearly identify more with their Japanese heritage. Also like me._ "It was no problem. I hate seeing people attack the helpless," Kallen replied truthfully.

"Still, you didn't have to. For that, I am grateful," the man said. He held out his sketchbook. "U-Uh… It's not much, but you can… have one of my drawings if you'd like. For thanks."

His sister giggled, adding, "_Nii-san_ is a natural artist. I'm sure you'll like one of them!"

Not wanting to be rude, Kallen took a look at the sketchbook. The girl was right; her brother _was_ a natural artist. It was all in pencil, but the landscapes in each of them were shaded so wonderfully that she almost felt they could come to life. That was, until she got about halfway through the journal and the images changed from landscapes to people.

It was one drawing that made her stop and stare at it. A woman with a child on both sides of her—children that honestly looked familiar. Almost like… like younger versions of Nunnally and Lelouch. As in from when they were still a prince and princess of Britannia.

"Oh, you like that one?" the man asked, peering at his book. "Go ahead, I really don't mind."

"Do you know who those people are?" Kallen asked.

He frowned slightly, eyes glazing over. "No… I really can't say. A lot of the things I draw are pictures that just appear in my mind. That was one of them. Sorry, I have no idea who they are."

"Hmm."

Miffed about the uncanny resemblance to Lelouch and Nunnally, Kallen opted to take a sketch of a rose garden, as the man insisted she take one. His younger sister waved goodbye before they went on their way.

_That drawing was strange… and I never got that girl's name…_

_Whatever. I have to go see if Mother's woken up yet._

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: And that's the chapter!**

**I'm totally not going to explain the nameless girl right now, nor am I going to explain the two strange siblings from the last scene. But they **_**are**_ **important even though you don't know their names.**

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope you leave a review!**

**This chapter's review question: Of the characters from the Code Geass spin-offs, pick one or two of them you'd absolutely **_**love**_ **to see in this story and explain why if you feel like it.**


	17. Stage 17: Royal Descent

_*****Thanks to mcdinh, Ulrich362, MrtheratedG, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Jarjaxle, BlackTyrantValvatorez, yanivdani, lifeswordpa, Republic (seventeen times), MM Browsing, OBSERVER01, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Cool Cat 2000, Anonymous Person, and RicartElit, the fifteen people who reviewed the previous chapter!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: Okay then, that's good to know. Oh, and you don't need to leave a review correcting yourself each time you have a typo; my mind automatically fixes the wrong spelling so half the time I don't even realize you made a typo until you go and correct yourself in a follow-up review.**_

_**Guest Review Reply - Anonymous Person: I'm really sorry about confusing you, but unfortunately that's how my muses like doing stuff. Most of this chapter is pretty straightforward… except for the second one, so prepare yourself for that one as well.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: Alright guys, sorry for the wait. I needed to give my other stories a bit of love and in the process obtained writer's block for this story for a little bit. The second scene in particular was pretty hard for me to come up with (why is Cornelia so hard to write?). Also, **_**life**_ **is happening again, as today was the first day of band camp (surprisingly I am not dead right now).**

**So, a lot of suggestions for spin-off characters. Julius Kingsley, Shin Hyuga Shiang, Orpheus Zevron, and Marrybell mel Britannia all got one suggestion each, Alice got a ton (which is awesome because I like her), and Akito and Leila got a few. I'm going to TRY to use all of these guys, though as of right now the ones **_**guaranteed**_ **to have roles are Alice and Kingsley. Thanks a bunch you guys for the suggestions!**

**Anyways, I should probably get to the story. I don't own Code Geass. Enjoy!**

**Stage 17: Royal Descent**

After the interrogation, there was nothing left for Suzaku to do in the government building. But Suzaku hung around, mostly because he was still trying to wrap his head around what happened in that interrogation room. There had to be some sort of reason why S.S. suddenly went mad. Nothing was coming to mind as he recalled those few moments. Nothing save the look she gave him that was likely a silent call of help while she mouthed his name, and that gave absolutely no hints towards the truth.

To be fair though, nothing had made sense since he'd made that contract with S.S. If only he could've gotten those answers; _something_ to be able to understand it all. Unfortunately for Suzaku, S.S. didn't look like she would be waking up anytime soon, and who knew if the amnesia would continue after she regained consciousness?

Suzaku sighed as he finally left the government building. _Clearly I'm not going to make sense of this on my own. Maybe it's better that I just forget about it._

"Ah! Suzaku, there you are!" Euphy's voice echoed from inside the building, and he turned around. The Third Princess had donned the same dress she wore when he'd met her for the first time, along with a hat that she'd tucked all of her hair into, and a pair of sunglasses. "Looks like I almost missed you leaving."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing at all! I just assumed you'd be going back to Ashford Academy now and, well, I'd like to go with you," she replied.

_Go… with me?_ "You want to see Lelouch and Nunnally, don't you?"

The princess tilted her head to the side while she smiled. "Of course I want to see them, Suzaku. And if I go with you, I have an excuse to give to my guards, so my sister won't be able to punish me."

Suzaku dropped his gaze. On one hand, it was extremely risky for her to even _attempt_ to meet Lelouch and Nunnally in person. On the other, he did not want to say no to her—_couldn't_ say no to her, since she was a princess and he was just an Honorary Britannian. "Alright, I understand. You can come with me."

As Euphy's smile grew even wider, Suzaku held in a sigh.

_Lelouch is going to kill me, isn't he?_

* * *

Meanwhile, Viceroy Cornelia was busy reviewing the tapes of S.S.'s interrogation. The girl appeared to be normal—as long as that bizarrely flippant and cheerful attitude was her normal—up until her eyes flashed wide for a brief moment. If Cornelia was to believe it, that was when the "amnesia" set in. After that, along with being extremely confused, S.S. seemed to have some strange fascination with Kururugi, something that would seem out of place for someone who had amnesia.

Something about the entire interrogation had felt _wrong_, though. No one in their right mind—_especially_ not one of Zero's right-hand subordinates—would simply turn themselves into the authorities simply because they made a promise to someone. And _that_ wasn't even taking into account the vague answers the girl gave, as though Cornelia should already know the answers. Also, Zero being a Britannian who hated his own country just as much as the Numbers did? That made no sense.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she caught it. Right after S.S.'s head hit the table, there was a part of her forehead normally colored by her bangs exposed to the camera. There was a strange mark there, glowing red for a moment. It stopped almost immediately after Cornelia caught a glimpse of it, revealing that the mark looked more like a tattoo than anything else, and she had to rewind the video to make sure that she'd actually seen it glowing. It really was.

_A strange fit of amnesia and a glowing mark on her forehead? Just what is this, a fantasy novel?_ There simply were no straight answers for her in this mess.

"Princess?"

Cornelia lowered her hand from her face and turned around. Her knight, Guilford, was standing by the entrance to the room. "Ah, Guilford. I assume that means the results of running S.S.'s DNA through the system came back?"

"They did," he replied, handing over a manilla file. "As you instructed, your eyes are the first to see it."

"Thank you, Guilford."

She opened the file, and surprisingly there were several pages inside. Most of it was a list of near-matches, and the names that showed up made Cornelia's brow furrow. Her _own_ name appeared, as did the names of many other members of the royal family. Lady Marianne was also on the list, as was Lelouch.

_No… No, there's simply no way…!_

The name of the perfect match… was Nunnally vi Britannia.

* * *

Dinner in the Lamperouge residence that day was in silence. There had been no luck in finding whoever it was that Nunnally heard crying out for help, leaving Nunnally upset and Lelouch unwilling to bring up something to talk about for fear of upsetting her even more.

The implications of this were what was bothering Lelouch. Either Nunnally never actually heard someone crying out for help, she _did_ hear someone and that person was taken before he and Nunnally could find them, the voice was a result of a mental illness (unlikely but, he had to admit, possible), or the only other possible answer he could think of: that she'd somehow heard _S.S._ crying out for help even though that immortal should be in jail right now. After all, there was no denying that there was a connection between the two, just like he had some sort of connection to Z.Z.

If the last one was the truth, that meant S.S. was in trouble somehow, though with her Code, how _could_ she be in danger?

Someone cleared their throat while knocking on the door frame.

Lelouch glanced over his shoulder; it was Suzaku, looking extremely nervous for some reason. _Don't tell me he…?_ "You're a bit late if you came to join us for dinner, Suzaku," Lelouch said, trying not to give away the fact that he knew why Suzaku was so nervous.

"I, uh," Suzaku looked at his feet, "I didn't come for dinner. Lelouch… _please_ don't kill me." Then he gestured behind him for someone to come forward.

In about three seconds flat, all Lelouch could think about was the fact that Euphy was here, nearly crushing his ribcage in her tight hug. "Eu-Euphy… can't breathe…"

"Oh! Sorry, Lelouch!" The pink-haired girl released him immediately. "I-I just… I'm so happy I can see you both again…"

"Euphy?" Nunnally asked, extending a hand in trying to reach her half-sister. "Is it really you?"

Euphy's smile briefly faltered upon seeing that her beloved half-sister was still blind after all these years, but quickly stepped forward and took her hand. Tears welled in her eyes. "Yes, Nunnally, it's me."

Lelouch suppressed a smile because, he had to admit, Euphemia coming here was the best way to cheer Nunnally up after the failure to find the voice. Not to mention the fact that she was the only one of his half-siblings he truly missed. Instead, he stepped outside of the dining room, motioning for Suzaku to follow him.

The Japanese teenager held up his hands innocently. "Lelouch, I swear she—"

"Suzaku, I'm not mad," Lelouch cut him off. "I made the mistake to make eye contact with her during the hotel hijacking, and she clearly recognized me. You bringing her here, well… that saved me the trouble of worrying if our identities would be revealed to the world. In any case, two of my sisters are now happy. How can I be angry with you?"

Suzaku lowered his hands, heaving a huge sigh of relief. "Thank goodness… I thought for sure you were going to kill me for telling her where you lived."

"The thought may have crossed my mind," Lelouch replied with a chuckle. It _had_, after all, back when Z.Z. told him about Suzaku telling Euphy, though he quickly realized that sort of retribution was far too extreme. (And it was partially his fault that Suzaku told her.)

* * *

Those several hours of talking to her beloved half siblings, while making this day the best day of her life, also left Euphemia li Britannia wondering quite a bit about their survival. Mostly _how_ they survived, for she could clearly remember seven years ago when Cornelia told her that they had died; executed at the hands of Genbu Kururugi in an attempt to get the Empire to leave Japan alone. That was obviously not the case which begged the question why did Cornelia lie to her? Did she know that the vi Britannia siblings were alive all this time, or was _she_ lied to about their deaths? It had to be the second one. There was no way Cornelia would lie to her.

The implications of their survival were not lost on the princess, either. If they had not died before the invasion, that meant Nunnally and Lelouch had to live through the short-lived war. That meant… That mean… something she did not want to _think_ about, much less ask about.

Really, them being alive after all these years were what Euphy truly cared about. They hadn't changed much, at least not that she could tell. Though Lelouch _did_ seem a bit distant…

"…and that was when he—oh my," Lelouch, in the middle of recanting a story about one of his friends from Ashford Academy, paused when he noticed the clock. _11:27._ "Looks like we really lost track of time. Nunnally, you really need to go to bed."

"Huh?" Nunnally looked slightly alarmed. "B-But… Big Brother, I'm not tired yet! I still want to talk to Euphy!"

Lelouch's eyes narrowed, and a small frown appeared on his face. Euphy guessed it was because he did not want to argue with his younger sister; he'd never really _won_ arguments with her when they were younger. "But we have school tomorrow, Nunnally, and it's already far past when you normally go to sleep."

Not that Euphemia wanted to say goodbye to Nunnally, she knew that Lelouch had a point. "Nunnally, listen to your brother. It's not like this is the last time we'll see each other." It didn't occur to her until after she spoke that she should have said something else; Nunnally couldn't exactly _see_ her. After a slight pause, the pink-haired girl continued, "Besides… school is important. I had to quit before I could finish." Thanks to being installed as the Sub-Viceroy of Area Eleven, at any rate.

"Well… When you put it that way, I guess…" The sandy-haired girl relaxed in her wheelchair, though she still had a slight frown on her face. "Goodnight, Euphy."

"Goodnight, Nunnally," Euphy said while hugging her younger half-sister. Her heart skipped a beat; she'd never thought she'd be able to say those words again, but she could. "I'll try to call you tomorrow if I have time alone, alright?"

"That sounds nice!" Nunnally agreed.

"Hm. Suzaku, would you mind taking Nunnally to her room? I'd like to speak to Euphy alone for a little," Lelouch suddenly proposed, catching the Japanese teenager off-guard.

"H-Huh? Oh, uh, s-sure."

After Lelouch gave Nunnally a kiss on the forehead, Suzaku escorted her out of the dining room. Lelouch didn't immediately start speaking, though, and in the silence Euphy heard something vibrating. And it was coming from… Lelouch? "Aren't you going to answer your phone?" she asked him.

"I know who's calling me. Whatever he has to say isn't nearly as important as—"

"Talking to me? Don't be silly Lelouch. It might be the first time in seven years we've had the chance to speak to each other, but you still shouldn't ignore your friends."

He opened his mouth to argue, but all that came out was a slightly exasperated sigh. Lelouch fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it, silencing the vibrating, but the sound of someone shouting on the other end replaced it. "—_ser the damn phone already!"_

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose, "Z.Z., what is so important that you had to call me over _three hundred times_ in the past _four hours_?!"

"_Finally!"_ That was all Euphy could hear of the other person—Z.Z.'s reply.

_Wait a second… Z.Z.? Wasn't that the name of S.S.'s brother?_

"And how, exactly, can you tell?" Lelouch responded.

_And those two are both in league with Zero and the Black Knights… L-Lelouch, he can't possibly be one of them, right?_ There was no way that Lelouch would side with the person who killed Clovis, right? Those two had gotten along fine in the Aries Villa. There was no way Lelouch would… well… _I don't know how much my brother has actually changed over the past seven years. I suppose it _could _be possible for him to side with the Black Knights._ The thought nearly terrified her.

After the other person answered, Lelouch sighed. "Look, I understand how you feel, but remember that we agreed upon her staying there for two weeks."

"_Two weeks?! You basta—"_

"Two. Weeks." Lelouch clicked his phone off, then gave a wry smile to Euphemia. "Judging by the look on your face, you've pieced together exactly what I was going to tell you about."

"You're really part of the Black Knights?" It wasn't necessarily a _bad_ thing; they'd saved a lot of innocent people during the hotel hijacking, and at least they _claimed_ to fight for the weak. It was just… "Why would you fight for the man who killed our brother?"

That wry smile remained on his face as he replied, "I never said that I fought _for_ Zero. Though I _do_ appreciate you calling us by that name, rather than terrorists as most would."

…

Euphy narrowed her eyes at her brother. He wasn't making any sense—how could be be part of the Black Knights if he didn't fight for Zero? As soon as she thought that, the answer came to mind: he didn't fight for Zero because he _was_ Zero. But that made even less sense than Lelouch being part of a Japanese resistance group…! "No… No, there's no way…!"

"It's true. I am Zero, and I have no intention from hiding that fact from you."

* * *

Completely uncharacteristically of him, Z.Z. had his suit jacket and cravat discarded onto his bed, his dress shirt unbuttoned, and a hand to his throat as if _that_ would change anything. He'd even taken off his wig—something he hadn't planned to do outside of showering—revealing his natural hair color, black. The non-stop pacing around his room in the Black Knights' mobile base was not helping matters either. The Code marking his throat flashed again, bringing the immortal to his knees as he hissed in pain for the umpteenth time today.

_D-Dammit… what's happening to my sister?!_

It was times like these that Z.Z. hated ever letting his sister follow him into this world. He should have known she would do something that would potentially expose them both, and now he'd been forced to hand her over to the enemy. Judging by the amount of pain from the _ferocious agony_ that was the thing that made him immortal, _someone_ figured out their secret.

Who it was, he had no idea. Probably the Viceroy. A shame if that was the case; he was actually considering letting her live in this world.

When the Code stopped flashing, and the black spots retreated from the edges of his vision, he fished his phone back out of his pocket. Maybe Lelouch hadn't answered any of his calls, but it _had_ to be that the boy was _ignoring_ him; his calls weren't going straight to voicemail as though the other was off. So he tried again, impatiently tapping his foot while it was ringing.

"Come _on_ Lelouch, answer the damn phone already!"

"_Z.Z., what is so important that you had to call me over _three hundred times _in the past _four hours_?!"_ Lelouch said.

"Finally!" Z.Z. exclaimed, happy that he was being answered at last. "Look, I need you to get down here right now and get my sister out of the jail cell _you_ sent her to. She's in trouble."

"_And how, exactly, can you tell?"_

The immortal ran a hand through his hair; _another_ thing he hadn't expected to have to explain. "My sister and I… our Codes are connected, the reason _why_ is very lengthy and not important right now. But _something_ is happening to my sister _right now_, and my Code is essentially strangling me every five minutes to let me know about that _something_. Clearly this means she shouldn't stay there."

He heard Lelouch sigh. "Look, I understand how you feel, but remember that we agreed upon her staying there for two weeks."

_Oh, _hell _no. Not anymore._ "Two weeks?! You basta—"

"_Two. Weeks."_

"—rd, she's not going to—_you hung up on me?!_"

He threw his phone at the wall, not caring if he broke it or not. _You don't deserve my help, Lelouch. I ask for _one _favor and you refuse me… This will not go unsettled._ And then his Code started burning again so his thoughts of revenge were turned into him struggling to take in a breath.

* * *

Euphemia's reaction to his revelation went over about as well as he'd expected it to. At first she stared at him, trying to see if he was only kidding. But there would be no joking about this matter. Lelouch intended for her to know the whole story; surely she would understand why. Her dumbfounded worry quickly turned as she narrowed her eyes slightly even though she was trying to keep herself from crying. Trying to figure it out herself, no doubt. "I… I don't understand," Euphy said quietly. "If you're Zero, then that means… that means you… Clovis…!"

"That is correct. I am the one who took his life," Lelouch said, trying desperately to keep a steady gaze on his sister. Of course she would remember him as the gentle older brother who loved to paint and draw. A small part of him wanted to remember Clovis as that too, but he logically could not; Clovis' sins were too big to simply ignore.

The pink-haired girl gasped, her eyes wide with shock, the sudden movement sending several tears falling through the air. After blinking a few times, she seemed to compose herself. Though "composing herself" involved slapping Lelouch across the face.

_Gah…! She hits harder than I remember. Has Cornelia been training her or something?!_ Lelouch held a hand over his stinging cheek, biting his tongue to prevent himself from screaming at his sister. He… deserved that.

"O-Oh… Lelouch, I'm sorry," she immediately apologized. "I… I just…"

He waved it off. "It's alright, Euphy. I did just admit to killing our own brother. And if I'm being truly honest with myself… I wish I could say it was an accident, and that I regret it immensely. Unfortunately," his eyes hardened, "that could never be the case."

"Wh-What? Why?"

"I meant what I said when I announced the formation of the Black Knights at Lake Kawaguchi; he ordered the slaughter of countless unarmed and innocent Japanese." And he told her about what happened in Shinjuku. That he had been experimenting on and torturing a woman because she was apparently immortal (telling her that it was the truth and about Geass seemed like a bit much for now; he'd tell her some other day), and that she was held prisoner inside of a capsule made for poison gas. When that capsule was stolen by the terrorists—now members of the Black Knights—Clovis ordered the entire ghetto purged simply to make sure no one found out about the woman. In the end, he cared more about his own power than the lives of thousands. "If you don't believe me, I have a recording of when I interrogated him about this."

Euphy stared at her lap in silence for a few moments. When she looked up, she was still crying. "I… I can't imagine Clovis ever doing something like that… but I know you would never lie to me, so…" Her fingers clenched her dress. "Is that why you became Zero? Because of what Father did to you and Nunnally after your mother died and because of what Clovis did to the Japanese?"

"Yes, that's part of the reason," Lelouch replied. "But neither one is my main reason to fight against Britannia and anyone else who would oppress the weak. No, my main reason to fight is Nunnally. She made a wish one day: for the world to be a gentler place. I intend to make that wish of hers a reality for everyone. A world that… deserves to be the one she opens her eyes to."

"Oh, Lelouch…"

The black-haired teen stiffened when she leaned over and pulled him into another tight hug. Not nearly as tight as when she first arrived, but still enough to make it difficult for him to breathe. But… he enjoyed it. To know that even after all these years, Euphy was still the sweet little girl he loved.

When she finally let him go, her lavender eyes instantly locked with his amethyst. "Lelouch, why did you tell me about all of this? I _am_ the Sub-Viceroy; I should have you arrested! Not that I _would_, but still!"

"I wanted to let you know that I would never want to fight you, Euphy," Lelouch said. "You'd certainly be the worst enemy I ever face if anything ever came to that, and I want you on my side. And that's why…"

The Geass sigil in his eye lit up, and he took a deep breath before issuing the command he'd been preparing to give her the entire time.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: So, that all happened.**

**But still, don't take anything that happened in this chapter at face value. Things are likely more complicated than they look like.**

**Alright you guys, please review! They always make my day!**

**This chapter's review question: I'm kind of curious, what command do you think Lelouch is going to give to Euphemia? Obviously this prevents the SAZ Massacre from occurring, but still… it could be anything which is why I'd like to hear what you think.**


	18. Stage 18: Unknown Variables

_*****Thanks to mcdinh, yanivdani, MrtheratedG, Ulrich362, BlackTyrantValvatorez, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, Demons Anarchy of Pride, OBSERVER01, Republic, MM Browsing, XT3100, lifeswordpa, Matsukaze Tenma, and Fai's smile, the fourteen people who reviewed the previous chapter, and Fai's smile, who also reviewed chapter 16!*****_

_**Guest Review Reply - Republic: All I can say is, you'll see what the command will be very shortly.**_

**Author's Note Part 1: I am so sorry for taking so long. School started back up, and I'm taking AP Environmental Science and doing that class' homework takes up nearly all of my free time. Then the rest of my free time was taken up by dance, marching band, or choir. Honestly, until marching band season finished, Wednesday was the only day I had any amount of free time unless I decided to procrastinate my work. With marching band **_**done**_**, I should have some level of more time now.**

**At least I'm not taking AP US History. My goodness I've heard so many bad things about that class workload-wise that I seriously would not be able to survive taking that AND AP Environmental Science, and that's **_**without**_ **factoring in my extracurricular activities.**

_**Anyways**_**, just because my updates will be infrequent at best and a hiatus at worst, that doesn't mean I'm abandoning this story. I hope you guys understand that.**

**I don't own Code Geass. Without further ado…**

**Stage 18: Unknown Variables**

"_You'd certainly be the worst enemy I ever face if anything ever came to that, and I want you on my side. And that's why… I want you to stay out of the fighting between Britannia and the Black Knights, as best as you can."_

There. He'd done it. His beloved sister would not be involved in the rebellion he intended to complete. There was also no possible way for him to use accidentally Geass on her at a later date (something that had haunted him ever since he had seen that specific memory). But that could be suspicious, wouldn't it? She _was_ the Sub-Viceroy; getting involved with the fighting in Area 11 might sometimes come in the job description, though not to the extent of Cornelia… _No, I don't want Euphy getting hurt, that means she stays out of the fighting completely._

He was about to turn off his Geass when he decided to add one more thing to her command. "…_But… above all else, you must live, Euphemia."_

Lelouch blinked, breaking the eye contact and releasing the princess from his power. She blinked as well, disoriented for all of a split second. "That's why I wish it was possible for you to join me," Lelouch said—not hastily, that would be suspicious—as though that was what he was originally going to say. "But it's as you said, you are the Sub-Viceroy. I doubt that even I could convince the Black Knights to accept you into our ranks."

Euphy laughed a little, "You do have a point, Lelouch, but who said I even wanted to join the Black Knights in the first place? I…" She looked away, playing with her thumbs. "I'd rather change Britannia—and maybe even the world—without having to resort to violence. Hasn't the world seen enough bloodshed throughout all of its history?"

"Hmm." He'd certainly expected an answer like that. "Well, I'm sure if anyone can succeed in doing that, it's you, Euphy."

"Oh, now you're just giving me too much credit," she said, playfully punching his arm.

"What? It's the truth. To change Britannia without bloodshed… that would only be possible for someone within the royal family, and even then it isn't very likely that it would succeed or even last." He paused, smirking just a touch. "You certainly have a better chance than, say, Suzaku."

Then…

"Someone say my name?" Suzaku asked, returning to the dining room. It had certainly taken a while for him to put Nunnally to bed, though Lelouch assumed it was because the two had started talking about… well, whatever it was that they would be talking about.

"It was nothing, just started talking about how to change Britannia, and I compared Euphy's chance of success to yours," Lelouch replied.

"That, ah… makes sense." Followed by a short and awkward laugh as the Japanese teen looked at the clock, then at Euphy. "Euphy, it's getting kind of late… Don't you think I should take you back to the government bureau soon?"

Even though he didn't _really_ want to say goodbye, Lelouch saw the point of that. Euphy had been here for more than just a few hours—he was surprised Cornelia hadn't started a manhunt looking for her. But, if she _was_ leaving now… "Just one more thing. Euphy, you mustn't tell anyone that Nunnally and I are alive. You understand, don't you?"

The pink-haired girl looked hurt as she asked, "N-Not even Cornelia?"

The battle at Saitama Ghetto came to mind. If he hadn't taken action, it would have been as much a bloodbath as Shinjuku, and for an equally selfish reason. Lelouch shook his head. "_Especially_ not Cornelia."

"But Cornelia—"

"—Has changed." His eyes hardened as he added, "She's become like Clovis… and the rest of our family."

Silence filled the room as the two half-siblings stared at each other, Suzaku opting to awkwardly back out of the room and wait in the hall while they settled things. Lelouch held his gaze firm even though he was surprised by Euphy's reaction: while she had been in complete shock over the fact that he was Zero, she was now visibly angry at him. He couldn't remember a time when his sister had been so angry as to show it on her face, she usually internalized it or didn't get angry in the first place. Was what he said really that bad…?

"You're wrong, Lelouch. Cornelia isn't like the rest of our family!" Euphy stopped, frowning for a moment. "She fights for what she believes is right for Britannia—are you saying it's wrong to be loyal to your own country?"

"I never said it was wrong to be loyal." His eyes darkened as he looked away. "But when that loyalty leads you to slaughter countless innocents and strip away the rights of the survivors, that is something I can't just ignore."

"Oh…" She dropped her gaze, still frowning. "That's right… that's what Britannia has done to the Japanese. …Alright Suzaku, we'll be leaving now. And I promise I won't tell anyone that you and Nunnally are alive, Lelouch."

* * *

_Nunnally is alive._

…_That girl in that jail cell is _not _Nunnally._

_But her DNA is a perfect match. And her natural hair and eye color are Nunnally's as well—not blonde like the wig S.S. wore and not blue like the colored contacts she had on._

…_She's too old to be Nunnally. S.S. has the physique of a twenty-five-year-old. Nunnally should only be fourteen now. And this is _still _going off the idea that she could have survived getting shot execution-style by Genbu Kururugi._

The Second Princess of Britannia sighed heavily, massaging her temples in an attempt to stop the headache she'd had for the past several hours trying to figure out how the hell S.S. is supposed to be her half-sister even though it was impossible. She remembered the video shown seven years ago—the vi Britannia children were killed before her eyes, that moment sparking the beginning of the war with Japan.

And yet… here was someone that was the spitting image of Nunnally, very much alive and well. None of this made any sense—especially the age difference despite the perfect match in DNA. Even a second test—that she observed for the entire procedure—ended with the same result.

If only S.S. was awake for her to answer some more questions, but the girl still hadn't woken up from that strange episode.

The door to her room slid open, and the purple-haired princess turned. "I believe I said I did not wish to be disturbed—oh, it's just you, Euphy." Though as soon as she realized it was only her sister, she narrowed her eyes at what she had on. The simple green dress with an orange skirt, a white coat; it was the outfit she wore when trying to blend in with commoners. "Did you go out into the Settlement again?"

"Well… yes, but I… just wanted a breath of fresh air," Euphy replied.

"Something that you could have done just by opening a window. Didn't I already tell you that you shouldn't go out on your own? If—by some chance—one of the Eleven rebels were to recognize you…"

"I know, I know. You don't want to lose another sibling to this Area." She trailed off and looked away, sad about something. That did not slip past her elder sister.

"What's troubling you?" Cornelia asked.

"It's just… I really miss Lelouch and Nunnally… I guess it just hit me, with Clovis' passing…"

Cornelia stiffened at the mention of Nunnally, if only slightly. The fact that Euphy would bring up missing them… right after finding out S.S. might know something—no, there's just no way that means anything. Though… Lelouch as well…

…_S.S. has a brother. Z.Z. And from what I saw of him at Saitama, there's a chance…!_

"_Code Bearers are super-_duper _hard to kill, you know. That's why my big brother's still kicking and why I don't really care if you shove a bayonet in my face!"_

_If S.S. really _is _Nunnally… then Z.Z. is really Lelouch, and they somehow survived past that video recording of them seven years ago. And… they're fighting against Britannia…?_

"…ter? Is something wrong?"

Cornelia quickly composed herself, putting a hand to the side of her head. "No, nothing. I've just had a bit of a stressful day trying to… figure out some things."

"I understand," Euphy said sympathetically. She was quiet for a moment, torn about something that Cornelia did not know. "Um… Sister… What would you do if, hypothetically speaking, you found Lelouch and Nunnally still alive?"

The Second Princess of Britannia's gaze landed on the folder containing S.S.'s records. There was no way her sister had seen the results of that DNA test… and yet here she was, asking about the very thing Cornelia was thinking over. It _could_ just be a coincidence… no, it _had_ to be a coincidence. Frowning, Cornelia replied, "You know it's impossible for them to still be alive, but speaking in this hypothetical situation, I would… I would be overjoyed at finding them, first. I miss them both greatly. Then I would have to know just how they survived for seven years undetected… and after that, I'm really not sure what I would do."

_If they're really S.S. and Z.Z., they've made themselves the enemies of Britannia. I cannot just let that slide… Then again, based on what they've had to live through? Even _I _would probably do just that if I was in that situation._

…

_No, I could never side with Zero. I am a princess of Britannia… and so were Lelouch and Nunnally._

_I'll have to see for myself, then. If only there was a way to draw out Z.Z. from wherever it is that he hides…_

* * *

It was not until five in the morning that his Code stopped flaring up in pain every five minutes. Just about half a day of being unable to breathe, and also being unable to fully pass out. Z.Z. truly regretted allowing his sister to come along with him, partially because he _hated_ feeling absolutely helpless but mostly because he hated not knowing what was happening to her.

_If she'd only stayed in C's World like I wanted…_

But sometimes what he wanted and what reality chose to happen were two completely different things, he certainly understood that. If it was not his precious sister that was the target of such differences, he would be more than happy to welcome it. He particularly _enjoyed_ being surprised by what each world he'd been to could throw at him. It was just…

There were three different rules he had to live by, two of which were imposed directly by the Collective Unconsciousness. The first, that he and S.S. step in should there be no one to stop any version of the Ragnarök Connection. The second, that no one be allowed to discover their true identities—though he doubted anyone could figure out the whole truth by themselves. The third, one that he imposed upon himself, was that his sister's safety trumped all else, and he would be dammed if he let one of the incarnations of Lelouch stand in his way for that.

_And right now, at least two of those rules are in danger of being broken._ _All the more reason to have S.S. back at my side immediately._

Oh, if only he could simply will it to happen. That would solve Z.Z.'s biggest problem. But… breaking someone out of prison without any sort of help would be impossible, doubly so due to how important of a prisoner S.S. was. Much as he hated to admit it, he needed Lelouch's help, and Lelouch showed no inclination of helping until the two weeks were up.

_Unless…_

_I _could _speed up the timeline a little. Perhaps an anonymous tip about where the Japanese Liberation Front is hiding… combined with a suggestion that the Black Knights will be meeting with them in a few days…_

_Oh, but that would cause a problem in that Kyoto House has not contacted Zero yet, and as such we don't have the Guren Mk-II just yet. And Cornelia _has _to be smarter than to fall for an anonymous tip like that, not to mention Lelouch will probably see right through my plans. His intelligence rivals mine—or it would if he'd been alive for as long as I have._

_What to do, what to do…_

An idea came to mind, and a large smirk grew on his face.

If he pulled it off correctly, it would be like killing two birds with one stone.

* * *

Taking down a Refrain smuggling ring _did_ admittedly make Kallen's frustrations toward Lelouch lessen quite a bit. Not _entirely_, but a lot. If he'd only say why he knew about her mother taking Refrain, it wouldn't be so bad.

Still, it felt good knowing that the largest distributor of Refrain was now completely destroyed, and those bastards who tried making a profit out of the Japanese's pain were dead. And the people who were in that storehouse, the ones lost in Refrain, would be cared for at the same hospital her mother was at—something that Zero had arranged for… using his power.

_I still don't know what to think about his Geass. He's used it for good so far, but it's still wrong to be taking control of someone's free will._

The redhead sighed as she walked into her bedroom, then lazily plopped onto her bed. It was already almost seven in the morning, the morning sun peeking through her curtains. Today would have to be one of her "sick" days if she wanted some sleep.

"My, someone seems awfully tired. Perhaps you'd have gotten some sleep last night if Lelouch hadn't gotten caught up in… personal matters."

"Wh-What the hell?!" Kallen jumped out of her bed, grabbing her purse, and revealing the dagger inside of it. She pointed it at the intruder that was simply sitting on her windowsill, and demanded, "How the _fuck_ did you get in here?"

Z.Z. turned, looked at the knife nonchalantly, and shrugged. "I wasn't sure when the Refrain bust would be over, so I cut out the middle man and came directly here. I happen to need your help."

_He breaks into my bedroom and then asks me for help? This guy is more frustrating than Lelouch._ She kept her knife out and replied, "And why should I help you after you _broke into my house_?"

Once again, he dismissed the accusation with a shrug, and then promptly said, "Don't you want to know what Lelouch's big secret is?"

Kallen narrowed her eyes at the blonde. Lelouch _did_ seem to trust him more than he did her; Z.Z. and S.S. were already Zero's allies before their first meeting. Then that meant he _could_ know what Lelouch would not tell her… but Z.Z. wasn't exactly the most trustworthy of people.

"Don't believe me? I know that Lelouch told you to keep an eye on your mother—and that you're wondering how he could have known about her using Refrain." He turned, opened the window, and continued, "But, if you're not inclined to help, I suppose I'll just leave. Maybe I can convince Suzaku to help me instead…"

"Wait," Kallen said. _He knows about Mother, but Lelouch should be the only one to know about her. There's a chance he's telling the truth after all…_ She frowned, an unsettling feeling sinking in her gut. "…You'll really tell me what Lelouch is keeping a secret from me?"

"I swear it on… well, I don't think my own life or grave would be applicable here…" He cocked his head to the side, thinking deeply about what to say. "I guess you'll have to take my word for it then. I'll tell you his secret once my sister is out of jail."

"You want me to help you in a jailbreak?"

"Oh, no, not directly," he said, waving his hand a little. "I'm trying to get Lelouch to help me do _that_, but he doesn't exactly want to right now. So I thought I'd make myself useful to him, maybe change his mind in the process. I just can't go to Mount Fuji all by myself."

_Mount Fuji…?_

"We're going to go convince Kyoto House to give us a special Knightmare Frame, one whose power rivals the Lancelot: the Guren Mk-II!"

* * *

Finally back at Ashford Academy, Lelouch was debating on whether or not to skip school for the day. There was no doubt that he would sleep either way—he needed some sort of reprieve after the events of last night. The question was, did he want Milly smacking him over the head with a newspaper, or did he prefer Shirley scolding him tomorrow for missing school?

_Decisions, decisions…_

Well, whichever his choice was, he still had to make sure Nunnally went to school. So he went into her room, expecting to wake her up. He was _not_ expecting her to already be awake and, with Sayoko's assistance, almost done getting ready.

"What has you up so early, Nunnally?"

She looked up at him with a smile on her face. "I'm going to see if I can call Euphy before we have to go to class. I still have so much I want to talk about! …Do you think I could talk to Cornelia as well? I mean—I've missed her a lot too…"

Lelouch's warm smile reserved only for his sister faltered as he remembered what he'd said to Euphy last night. "I'm… not sure. Cornelia _is_ the Viceroy, after all. She's probably very busy what with Zero's appearance and… Clovis' death. Besides… there's no guarantee that she'd allow us to continue living here in secret. At least Euphy promised not to force us out of hiding." He paused, noticed the fact that he was making his sister upset, and added, "But that's just my cynical speculation. You never really know."

The rest of the day went over quite quickly, mostly due to him napping through more than half his classes. Nothing interesting enough to keep him awake for very long, though he did note that Kallen was absent that day.

Finally back in his own room, he was about ready to start researching where the Black Knights should strike next when he noticed Z.Z. casually sitting at his desk, spinning a chess piece in his hand. The black king. The blonde looked up and smiled at Lelouch, setting down the king. "Oh Lelouch, I'm so glad you finally showed up. I've been wanting to tell you—"

"I don't care what you've done, Z.Z. The answer is still two weeks."

Z.Z. briefly scowled, then continued, "Well _anyways_, as I was _saying_… I managed to get us not one but _two_ brand-new powerful Knightmare Frames from Kyoto."

Lelouch stared. For all of his foresight, he was _not_ expecting Z.Z. to have gone and done that. It should have been a little longer before Kyoto even contacted them—and even then, wasn't the main reason why they'd received the Guren from them was because of him revealing his true identity to Taizo Kirihara? And then he'd said that he got _two_ good Knightmares from them? "What are you going on about, Z.Z.?"

"I mean just that. I took Kallen with me—I needed some kind of bodyguard, immortal or not—and convinced Kirihara to hand over the Guren and this other Knightmare called the 'Gekka Pre-Production Test Type'. I've seen it in action before, it's pretty cool. They should be delivered in like two days."

Lelouch narrowed his eyes at Z.Z. Clearly he _was_ still trying to get him to break S.S. out of prison earlier, but Z.Z. already acknowledged that he wouldn't be helping him until the two weeks were up. For him to go and do _this_?

"Oh, don't give me that look. I just happened to… to…" Z.Z. trailed off, his face extremely pale as he stumbled backwards like someone had just pushed him. He collided with the edge of the desk, knocking over the king piece he'd placed there moments ago. Gripping the table with one hand, the other went to his throat, scratching at it. The Code there—_so _that's _where it was_—glowed brightly and even _pulsed_.

"What on earth…? Z.Z., are you alright?"

"I—ngh—y-you can't—!" He gasped, eyes wide for one more moment, until just as suddenly as this had started, he relaxed. "F-_Finally_…"

Okay, Lelouch officially had no idea what was going on right now. "Z.Z., what just happened?"

"Z.Z…? I see, then you don't know… and I don't have much time here…" He paused for a moment, looking straight at Lelouch. "Listen to me, you can't trust them. Z.Z. and S.S. They aren't—gch…!" He grabbed at his throat again, a scowl on his face. "Can't tell you directly then. You just can't trust them. _Especially_ not Z.Z."

"Then, who are _you_?"

"I…" the blonde looked away briefly, the scowl turning into genuine sorrow. "I… I can't remember. It's been so long. But… But I just know something bad is going to happen because of _them_, and you seem like the one who could stop that." And then the man started clawing at the air, crying about not wanting to go back to "that place"…

Until Z.Z. passed out, and the answers he wanted were out of reach.

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: *Sigh* I kind of wish the quality of this chapter was better. Unfortunately when it comes to me, long periods of writer's block and general not-being-able-to-write leaves the actual ideas a bit… hard to portray.**

…**I just hope you guys liked the first two scenes of this chapter. They're the ones that took most of the five—has it really been five?—month period to write, particularly the first one.**

**This chapter's review question: How long do you think is "too long" between updates for a fanfic? …Yes, this is partially to motivate myself to not let there be so large of a gap between updates, but I'm honestly curious.**

**Please review, though!**


	19. Stage 19: Mind Games

_*****Thanks to Ulrich362, mcdinh, Demons Anarchy of Pride, MrtheratedG, yanivdani, thecatleader, 1000 Cherry Blossoms, OBSERVER01, Cool Cat 2000, and Above the Winter Moonlight, the ten people who reviewed the previous chapter, and Suzululu4moe, who reviewed chapters 1 through 6!*****_

**Author's Note Part 1: Look, guys! I didn't wait five months before updating this time!**

**Heheh. I guess this chapter didn't have me stuck for so long over what to do next. Though considering over half of it focuses directly on S.S. and Z.Z. rather than canonical characters, it's hardly a fair comparison.**

**Still should prove quite interesting regardless.**

**I don't own Code Geass. Enjoy the next chapter!**

**Stage 19: Mind Games**

When S.S. woke up, she found herself in a jail cell, still in that white straightjacket, and with fresh tears on her face. _Huh…? Tears? What was I crying about in my sleep?_ The girl blinked a few times, then attempted to rub her eyes on her shoulder. Her head felt fuzzy, meaningless thoughts buzzing around her mind that she had no explanation for. _What even happened…?_

_Something about an interrogation. Cornelia and Suzaku were there. Did I tell them what I was supposed to?_

She sighed, shaking her head. Everything after turning herself in was just one big blur, and now the fuzziness in her head was a pounding headache. S.S. closed her eyes, trying to ignore it. No luck, it was the most painful thing she'd ever experienced outside of that _massive_ pain she'd felt when trying to introduce herself to Suzaku.

That was when she realized her cell was not lit, but she could see clearly. The Code on her forehead was glowing, and for the life of her she had no idea why. Suzaku was clearly fine; she could still feel their contract, and he definitely hadn't had his Geass long enough for it to become permanently active. So that was not the reason. Had something happened to her brother…?

She tried reaching out to him, and her question was answered. Z.Z. was unconscious, though _why_ was something she could not figure out. Upon realizing this, S.S. shot up from her cot. Her brother needed help, and nothing would stop her from making it to his side!

…Except for the fact that she was still imprisoned. If she had the use of her hands she could probably break out, but there was no way of doing that now.

_Big Brother… what's going on…?_

Just like that, the light cut off, and the headache stopped. It did nothing to ease her worries though. And with her not in a situation to do anything about it, she just flopped back onto the uncomfortable cot in her cell and stared into the darkness. It was a time like this that made her wonder why she ever let her brother continue travelling to the worlds they had no place in, and why she insisted on tagging along this time. It had mostly been on a whim… and now she could not get to her own home due to a connection with this world's Nunnally she could not even begin to understand. And her brother, he had a similar connection to Lelouch for some reason too.

_I just don't understand what makes them so important. Everyone lives, dies, and is then reborn in the next world, a never-ending cycle. Z.Z. and I are the only constants. Why, then?_

She blinked and realized that she was crying again and couldn't remember starting. This time she made no effort to stop. _Big Brother… I'm scared… I just want to know why this all is happening… and I really miss you…_ Her eyes shut as she tried to imagine what her brother would do in this situation. He definitely wouldn't be crying. He'd probably already have found his way out and probably caused a lot of chaos in the process—

Footsteps echoed by her cell door, as did the faintest jingle of keys. The immortal girl sat up just in time for the lights to come on. She flinched back; her eyes were not ready for the sudden burst of light. And when the stinging in her eyes went away, she stared at the one who was visiting her. Long black hair tied back in a ponytail, light-blue eyes behind a pair of glasses. "Oh, hi Sir Guilford! What do you need me for?"

She could have sworn that, for a second, the man turned white as a ghost. But there wasn't really much of a pause as he replied, "Princess Cornelia wishes to speak to you again."

"Huh? Okay…"

_But I can't guarantee I'll _say _anything. And if I do, I hope I don't say something I'm not supposed to._

S.S. wasn't sure how long it took to get to the Viceroy's personal office, but something was _definitely_ wrong if she was being called there instead of to an interrogation room. Even more so when the princess _dismissed her knight_ and, upon being alone, undid the straps of her straightjacket.

"I assume this is more comfortable than a cell," the Second Princess spoke, sitting behind her desk. She gestured to the chair across from her; more like a sofa, and S.S. sat down.

"…You're being awfully nice," S.S. said, trying to hide the worry in her voice as she stretched out her arms. She had no idea how long she'd been out, but her elbows definitely protested to the movement. "What's going on?"

"Standard procedures dictate that, upon arrest, anyone suspected of terrorism has their DNA processed through the system," Cornelia replied. She slid a folder across the table. "Imagine my surprise when the result of your test came back."

S.S. narrowed her eyes. There couldn't _possibly_ be a match. She hadn't even been in this world for a month yet, and aside from the whole terrorism thing—_which wasn't _really _terrorism, in her opinion_—definitely wasn't breaking any laws. And yet there was a folder in front of her that _did_ have some sort of match. Her stomach churned as she grabbed the edge of the folder and opened it.

…

"This… this has to be some sort of _mistake_," S.S. blurted the moment she saw the result.

_Nunnally vi Britannia_. Her DNA matched _Nunnally's_. That just did not make any sense. Surely she looked nothing like that girl, and surely she couldn't _be_ her either. She had been around to witness the first world, after all, and _that_ world had its own Nunnally. There had to be some sort of explanation… something, anything but this.

Except… when she thought about it, it _did_ make some sense. She'd never seen herself in a mirror before, but her natural hair color was the same sandy-brown as Nunnally's. Her legs randomly giving out with no explanation could also be explained as somehow, still lingering after all this time, the effects of the bullets from Marianne's assassination—although why her Code wouldn't have fully fixed that made no sense either. And… that inexplicable connection she had with Nunnally…

…_Then, that means Big Brother is…!_

"It's no mistake. I had it run a second time just to be certain that it was not," Cornelia said. "Are you saying that you are _not_ Nunnally?"

"That's… I…" She froze, a phantom pain running through her forehead. "I'm sorry. I'm not Nunnally vi Britannia. This…" she held up the folder, her hands trembling, "this is the first I've heard of my DNA matching hers. I wish I knew why…"

Though she was fairly certain she _did_ know why. For as long as she could remember, it had _always_ just been her and Z.Z., and they were also always the same age as they appeared now. People don't just suddenly exist like that, especially not Code Bearers since they require having Geass first. Which meant they both had to have lives _before_ C's World, she'd just never thought of it before. Which meant there had to have been a world before the one she'd always believed was first. She had to be Nunnally from that world, and Z.Z. had to be Lelouch. But then… why couldn't she remember that?"

Cornelia narrowed her eyes at the immortal. "You're lying, S.S… no, Nunnally. There's no point in—"

"I'm _not_ Nunnally!" S.S. shouted, that pain in her forehead back. That's right. She wasn't Nunnally and Z.Z. wasn't Lelouch. The test had to have been falsified to get more answers out of her, and she wasn't giving them. "I'm _not_. How _can_ I be Nunnally when I'm the same age as you?"

"That's exactly what I was going to ask _you_." The princess paused for a moment, contemplating something. "It does not surprise me that you both went through lengths to disguise yourselves after the war. Lelouch certainly would not want you in harm's way again."

"Big Brother isn't—"

"Tell me, then, why you call Z.Z. 'Big Brother' when he is younger than you?"

S.S. gasped and said no more. Z.Z. was… he _was_ older than her. But… he appeared to be eighteen when she appeared twenty-five. Why _did_ she call him that, then? "I… I… I'm… No!" She shook her head, screaming. "I _told_ you, I'm _not_ Nunnally! I don't care if my appearance or my DNA says otherwise, I'm not Nunnally because she's at Ashford Academy!"

…

"Oops."

"So my sister _is_ alive." Cornelia's shoulders relaxed somewhat. "And I suppose that means Lelouch is as well?"

S.S. hung her head. There was no way she could just take back what she said. "Yes but… but no one's supposed to know…"

"I understand, they've had to hide for the past seven years. Ashford, though?" The princess chuckled a little. "I wonder, did Clovis even _look_ for them? Ashford Academy should have been the first place to look."

S.S. tried to laugh along, but all she could think about was how much trouble she'd be in when Z.Z. and Lelouch found out what she told Cornelia.

* * *

When Z.Z. could consciously think again, he slowly opened one eye. As he suspected, he was on the floor in Lelouch's room, right where he'd 'passed out'. The bastard hadn't even bothered to move him anywhere. Alright, he knew where he was. Was Lelouch here? Because he certainly did not want to—

"I see you're awake now, Z.Z."

_Dammit._

Propping himself up on his left elbow—_God_ did his muscles ache for some reason; just a small reminder that, while immortal, he _was_ still human—Z.Z. decided the best course of action was to feign amnesia about what happened. Because he was mostly aware of what _had_ happened, and he did _not_ want to add this Lelouch on his list of people to kill for knowing the truth. Aside from letting S.S. go to prison, this Lelouch was by far the most entertaining of the previous few.

"I was… asleep? Huh, you'd think I would have picked a better place to pass out." The blonde ran a hand through his hair, careful to not take off his wig, and mimed stretching his back. "Ugh… what even happened?"

The purple-eyed prince stared back at him with a frown, hands clasped in front of his face as he leaned his chin on them. "I was hoping you could tell me. One moment, you were telling me about how you secured the Guren and… that Pre-Production Gekka from Kyoto, and the next you're trying to tear your own throat out while claiming you aren't Z.Z."

_Oh, this is just _lovely_. I was afraid that _he _had surfaced, and of course that had to happen in front of this Lelouch. He already barely trusts me as it is…_ "That's… odd," Z.Z. said. "I don't think that's ever happened before, and I can't seem to remember that at all…"

Then, before Lelouch had time to reply…

"_Big Brother, you're awake now, right?"_ S.S.'s voice echoed in his head. She sounded… panicked, something he'd never heard before from her.

"Ah! Dear sister, I'm glad _you're_ alright as well." He waved dismissively at Lelouch; talking to his sister was much more important than that. "I was quite worried about you last night. Did something happen…?"

"_Last night? Well… I think I passed out or something because I woke up earlier with a really bad headache…"_

"Did they do something to you?!"

"_N-No! …I don't think so anyways. It was my Code that was causing my headache."_

Oh dear. That meant someone _had_ discovered S.S.'s secret. "Curious… well, what else has happened?"

There was a pause, and Z.Z. frowned. It wasn't like his sister to try to keep secrets from him.

"…_Um… Promise me you won't be mad, okay…?"_

He narrowed his eyes, the frown growing slightly. "Why would I be mad about something you did?"

"_I, uh… I may have… Princess Cornelia wouldn't stop saying that I was Nunnally and she even had a DNA test to back her up and I tried arguing with her because I _can't _be Nunnally and you _can't _be Lelouch but she wouldn't listen and I kinda told her that Lelouch and Nunnally are living at Ashford Academy."_

Z.Z. cursed under his breath. Of _course_, they're barely trustworthy enough as it is, and she had to go and tell the Viceroy that Lelouch was hiding here with Nunnally. And even though that meant the end of Cornelia digging into their secret with _her_ actual siblings found, well, the fact remained that he couldn't just let that slide. Much as he wanted to. "Alright… well, I'll let Lelouch know. Just… Just, don't say _anything_ else to _anyone_ there, okay? Don't dig yourself a bigger hole."

"_Okay, Big Brother. …Sorry… I'm just not as smart as you are… I should have come up with something else…"_

For once, Z.Z. did not reply to his sister, much as it pained him not to. Instead, he sighed exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Well then. Seems you have just as much of a problem as I do with my sister in jail now, Lelouch."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently she told Cornelia that you and Nunnally are alive. And staying here at Ashford Academy."

It took less than a second for Lelouch to lose his composure, and the fury was very evident in his eyes. "She did _what_?!"

"I know, I know. The fact that Cornelia knows the both of you are alive now is a liability too big to account for." Z.Z. shook his head. "Between this and giving Suzaku a Geass… _honestly_, I had no idea my sister was such a _fool_." Though, he supposed it was to be expected; S.S. had only ever known C's World, and that place worked _very_ differently than this world.

* * *

_And right after I told Euphy that Cornelia had to remain in the dark about our survival…_

There was no hiding the fact that Lelouch was livid, though he did try to keep himself composed. Nunnally's safety meant _everything_ to him—and as much as he wanted to take Euphy's word about Cornelia being the same as he remembered, he could not trust his elder half-sister to keep their survival under wraps.

He _knew_ that he should not have trusted S.S. or Z.Z.

"Although… she _did_ tell Cornelia that you were alive for good reason," Z.Z. added, as thought that would help his case.

"Really now? What reason?"

The blonde narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms. "I really can't say… unless you want to _die_, that is."

Lelouch returned the gesture, and noted dryly, "How cliché. Really, what secret of yours is so great that you cannot tell _me_, considering this secret involves my sister in some way?"

The two stood there staring at each other for nearly a minute, neither of them speaking a word. Z.Z. seemed to be regarding Lelouch with disinterest now, but Lelouch… Lelouch was thinking. Trying to piece together the puzzle himself. He already knew that S.S. had some sort of connection to Nunnally, just like Z.Z. had a connection to himself. S.S. called Z.Z. her "Big Brother" despite appearing older than him—though the fact that they're both Code Bearers meant their Codes could have just activated at separate times. Her legs also _apparently_ had a habit of not working on occasion. On the other side of things, Z.Z. occasionally acted like Lelouch, and was also extremely protective of his sister. These facts, combined with Z.Z.'s insistence on keeping this a secret from everyone, and Cornelia's apparent insistence that S.S. was Nunnally…

He actually _laughed_; it couldn't _possibly_ be _that_ easy to figure out. Then again, sometimes the best-kept secrets are those hidden in plain sight. He'd know that more than anyone, hiding under the name "Lamperouge" alongside his sister for the past seven years.

"What's so funny?" Z.Z. questioned, frowning slightly.

"I figured it out. Did you think I _wouldn't_, in the face of all the hints the two of you have dropped?"

The frown turned into an outright scowl, though Lelouch could almost see _fear_ in the immortal's eyes. "You… figured it out?"

"I just can't figure out why you went to such lengths to hide it. After all, I think I would trust myself—or rather, the Lelouch from another world—more than a complete stranger that decides to just show up in my room one day."

Z.Z.'s mouth froze half-open for a moment as he gripped the desk next to him. Then he covered his face with the other hand, and his shoulders shook. The sound of crazed laughter filled Lelouch's room—why was Z.Z. _laughing_ in response to that? "Hah!" Z.Z. righted himself, dropping his hand to the side. "That's it? I'm you, and my sister is Nunnally? That's absolutely _hilarious_!"

Lelouch frowned. Didn't all the evidence point towards Z.Z. being a past Lelouch, and S.S. being a past Nunnally…? "Are you saying I'm wrong?"

"Oh, _entirely_! Though, I'll certainly say you're on the right track when it comes to figuring out the actual secret!" Z.Z. clapped a few times, an unnerving sound to fill the silence. And then he cheerfully added, "Don't forget, though, you figure out the real secret and you'll have to die so… yeah. _Please_ quit while you're ahead."

_Quit? Just who does he think he's talking to?_ _He's also overlooking one huge fact… _"And how do I know you're even telling the truth?" He wasn't yet sold on the idea that he'd missed the mark, which meant Z.Z. was well-versed in lying and theatrics as he was, if not more so considering Z.Z. has lived _much_ longer than he has. And, well, he wouldn't put it past himself to act like this if he lived for millennia.

"You certainly have no reason to take my word at face value." The blonde—if that was even his real hair color—pondered the thought for a moment, staring at Lelouch's desk. When he came up with an idea, his face brightened, and he snapped his fingers. "Ah-ha! We never _were_ able to finish that chess match after our first meeting. If I win… you simply _have_ to believe what I've said on the matter, and not pursue it any farther."

That was… not what Lelouch was expecting the immortal to come up with. But if he thought that he would curve Lelouch's curiosity just by beating him in chess, he was dead wrong. There was no chance that Lelouch would lose this match. Though, to make it fair… "Fine. Then, should I win, you're no longer a member of the Black Knights, nor are you welcome here at Ashford Academy. The same goes for S.S." He would not put up with Z.Z.'s lies any longer; and this could also double as punishment for S.S.'s folly.

"Well that's hardly fair," Z.Z. noted with a smirk. "As if I care about that."

The board was set up exactly like it had been when Nunnally had interrupted their game, and Z.Z. made his move almost immediately; like he had already been planning exactly what he wanted to do. He did not sacrifice his queen for the bishop, but instead moved it across the board to rest in front of his king.

_Well. He's not the only one who wondered how such a match would turn out in the end._

For the next half hour, the two were locked in a battle of wits. Neither wished to lose, but neither wanted to sacrifice their pieces to do so; Lelouch, at least, had a plan in mind to win that required his best pieces still on the board. So instead it came off as both of them playing as defensively as possible… until Z.Z. changed up his strategy entirely and started capturing piece after piece of Lelouch's, knowing that Lelouch would be able to immediately capture the offending piece. Almost as though he intended to end it in a stalemate instead of actually winning. But such an aggressive playstyle would simply not work against Lelouch.

_Is he really me…? I wouldn't play like this… unless he's just faking again to throw me off his trail._

And finally…

"Checkmate," Lelouch declared, moving his last rook into the same row as Z.Z.'s king.

"Wh-What?!" Z.Z.'s eyes scanned the board rapidly, clearly displeased by the outcome. With a huff, he stepped back from the board. "I see… I should have known you would try for that sort of move. Much as I loathe to say this, I admit defeat. It seems I'll have to find something else to entertain me…" He sighed deeply. "How dull. …Wait, does this mean that you'll no longer bust S.S. out of prison in two weeks?"

"From the start, I haven't trusted you or your sister. And now she goes and tells someone I didn't want knowing that I'm alive _and_ where I am while you seem to insist on lying to my face? You agreed to my conditions; this is your punishment."

"Tsk." Z.Z. shook his head, shrugging slightly. "No other choice then. …Goodbye, Lelouch."

As soon as the immortal left his room, Lelouch sighed heavily. He certainly wouldn't miss Z.Z.'s antics at all, though he _was_ a useful pawn in his past schemes.

_Oh well. For now, I need to be sure Nunnally is prepared to escape Ashford should Cornelia make use of the knowledge that we're alive…_

* * *

**Author's Note Part 2: Well then. That all happened.**

…**Seriously, that's the only way I can actually address the events of this chapter.**

**Still, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review!**


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